“The Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights” (Prov 3:12).
Our Father not only surrounds us with His warm, tender, and provident love, which gives us security in our existence; but, moved by this same love, He also reproves and corrects us, thus showing Himself to be our Father who loves us as children.
Once we have come to our senses, He continues to mold us into His image with great patience and perseverance. If we have not yet come to our senses, our Father will allow us to feel the consequences of our wrongdoing so that we will wake up, leave the wrong ways behind, and turn to Him.
It is precisely His reproofs that are an expression of His fatherly love, which will make us grow and mature if we willingly accept them. Our Father wants to prepare us to take full responsibility for our existence and vocation as children of God. Is it not a great blessing to meet people who have already gone through a process of formation in our Father’s school and the fruits of which can already be seen?
Certainly, we will always remain the beloved children of the Father, but is it not an honor to live this filial relationship as adults who not only want to enjoy the “milk of the Gospel” (1 Cor 3:2), but also to be entrusted by the Lord with the cross of the Gospel, knowing that they will carry it with dignity?
Our Father forms us in the image of His beloved Son. If we allow Him to do so, the fragrance of Christ will emanate from our lives. And if we have promised our Father that we want to serve Him with total surrender and without conditions, then He will reprove and correct us in a very subtle way, making us aware of even the smallest faults of love and calling us to love more.
This is our Father!