Do we see scary, messy sinners who deserve hatred and punishment, or do we see sons and daughters for whom the Father sacrificed everything to love and restore? Only when we see the latter can we be trusted to sit down with someone in a mess and discern correctly what the problem is and how to help them solve it.
...though He Himself never sinned, Jesus demonstrated that the Father’s heart is not to punish His sinful children, but to meet us in our sin with forgiveness and reconciliation. He doesn’t want to punish our mistrust and rebellion—He wants to teach us the truth of His trustworthiness, love, and faithfulness. He wants us to see how idolatry only leads to spiritual exile, orphanhood, slavery, despair, and destruction, while setting Him on the throne of our hearts brings us home to the place of belonging where we were created to flourish as His beloved children. The way He does this is by pursuing us to the utter extreme of our attempt to run from Him—becoming one of us, putting on our flesh, suffering our temptations, and walking through our death. This is how He tells us, “I love you. I am not withholding anything good from you. All that I have, all that I am, is yours for eternity. Even when you are faithless, I am faithful. Even when you believe lies about me, I keep pursuing you with the truth of my love. Nothing you have done has changed my love for you. You were made for my love. You can trust me. Stop running, and come home to my arms.”