So necessary to the Church is a lofty concept of God, that when the concept in any measure declines, the Church with her worship and her moral standards declines along with it.

A.W. Tozer The Knowledge of the Holy

For the past two and a half years I have not been able to shake the feeling that someone is watching me. Everywhere I go I get the feeling that someone is looking over my shoulder. Ever since my son Drew was born two and a half years ago there has been someone watching me. Just yesterday he watched me wake up (actually he woke me up by staring at me from approximately two inches away—this happens almost daily), he watched me make breakfast, he watched me get dressed, he watched me rake leaves, he watched me repair a broken faucet in my shower, and he wanted desperately to watch me “go hunt the deer,” but I was able to convince him that he would have to wait until he was older. Young children are obsessed with their parents. They are very observant and they are great copy-cats. I learned quickly that I must watch what I say and do because Drew is watching and he will inevitably follow suit—for better or for worse!

We should be the same way with our Heavenly Father. We should watch his every move. We should study everything that makes him who he is. Most importantly, we should try to be like him. Unfortunately, most of us don’t care enough about God, and our lack of interest in our Creator shows in the way we live our lives. Jonathan Edwards, one of the smartest men our continent has ever produced, was very aware that our attitudes and actions are deeply affected by our understanding of God. The driving principle behind some of his greatest works was as follows:

We can tell what we truly believe most deeply in our heart about God by the way we relate to other people—especially those close to us.
– Restated –
The way we treat others demonstrates the way we believe deep down that God treats us.

What Does This Mean for Parents and Youth?

Parents—the way you love, protect, discipline, and teach your children is representative of the way that you feel that God loves, protects, disciplines, and teaches you as his child. If you struggle with anger/impatience/frustration towards others (especially your children), it is a good sign that, deep down, you feel God treats you the same way.

Youth—the way you treat your parents and friends is representative of the way that you think God treats you. If you struggle with disrespect, impatience, untruthfulness, conditional love, or conditional obedience with your friends and family, it is a good sign that you feel that God treats you the same way.

What’s the point?

As God’s children, we have God’s promise that he is conforming us into the image of his Son (Colossians 3:9-10). Practically speaking this means that one day we will be like Christ in that we will perfectly image God. In other words we will love as God loves. As God’s children, we should long to be like our Father, and we should long to act like members of his family. The Jonathan Edwards principle gives us a very useful tool for examining not simply what we believe about God but, more importantly, how we are stacking up to what God wants us to be.

Think about it—Every one of us, at one time or another has disobeyed our parents only to hear them tell us, “That’s not how I raised you! I didn’t teach you to act like that!” Practically speaking the Jonathan Edwards principle offers us a tool to examine if we are really living our lives in keeping with the way God, our Heavenly Father, is raising us. Do we act like his children? Do we long to be like our Father?

The Challenge Facing Us:

The Jonathan Edwards principle challenges us to honestly examine the way we treat those closest to us and to ask the question, “Is that really how God treats me? Is God as impatient with me as I am with my children, parents, or friends?” He is not (Exodus 34:6)! Is the way I discipline my children really the way God disciplines me (God does not exasperate his children but he does discipline them as a sign of his love (Hebrews 12:7; Revelation 3:19))? Do I obey my parents with the kind of complete obedience that Jesus displayed to his Heavenly Father (Philippians 2:8)?

This also challenges us to dig deeper into God’s Word and ask the question, “How has God loved me?” This series of articles is designed to help you search God’s Word and ask him to show you how he has loved you and to help you to love as he loves. Specifically, it is designed to help you gain a better understanding of who God is and how he deals with you. In this series of articles I will focus on different attributes (or truths) about God. It is my desire in writing these articles that you would gain a deeper appreciation for who God really is, and that in so doing you would grow in grace as you learn to follow your Heavenly Father.

Rev. Campbell Silman is Youth Minister at Plains Presbyterian Church in Zachery, Louisiana.