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Truth, Justice and Steadfast Love:
Three Qualities God wants to see in a Father
By Pastor Dan Kennedy
© June 20, 2010
Deep in the soul of mankind there is an overwhelming desire for Truth, a desperate cry for Justice, and a great longing for genuine, Steadfast Love.
Since fathers naturally have God-given desires to be protectors and providers for their home and family, these three deeply rooted, sometimes skewed and not always visible values, become essential qualities for a mature and honorable father.
God wants fathers to seek Truth, Justice and Steadfast Love.
1. Truth
Truth: that which is correct, accurate, and honorable in thought or in spoken word, to the best of our knowledge, understanding, and perception, in the sight of God and man.
“Truth,” to some folks may be a “matter of opinion”.
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•Background: an individual’s background (family and/or education) may greatly affect what they perceive to be truth;
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•Emotions: a person’s emotions may sometimes sidetrack truth (emotions are always more real than even reality!); and,
•Worldview: a man or woman’s worldview (which may involve his or her background and emotions) may convince him or her to believe “a truth” that is totally wrong!
What is Truth?
It is interesting that Pilate rhetorically responded to Jesus with this very question.
“What is truth?”
Pilate seemed to be trying to determine a solution for the vicious hatred being spewed out against Jesus, by those seeking His crucifixion, when Jesus was brought before him to be questioned, tried and convicted by religious rulers who stirred up a mob, calling for “religious” justice (crucifixion), under the guise of spiritual truth.
Pilate asked Jesus, during his questioning of Him, if Jesus considered Himself to be the King of the Jews.
John 18
36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” 37 Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” 38 Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”
“My Kingdom is not of this world….Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice,” - Jesus.
When Jesus said this to Pilate, He was clarifying the fact that the substance of one’s understanding and believing – what really is the “Truth”, can be revealed, in great part, through one’s worldview. Pilate’s worldview was static to that which was immediately around him – what personally affected him; Jesus’ was not.
Our Worldview establishes the foundation of what we believe, to be “Truth”
From the above scripture – John 18:36-38, truth was established on a plane much different than what Pilate had been accustomed. Jesus’ Kingdom was not a Kingdom dominated by world values – something in competition to a ruling government or religious legalism. Jesus told Pilate, “My Kingdom is not of this world!”
Jesus was willing to go to the cross, because His Kingdom had far more implications, than mere human governmental restriction against the rise of another king. Jesus’ Kingdom superseded human kingdoms. Physical life was not essential for His Kingdom. In fact, Jesus’ Kingdom focused on everlasting life in an Eternal Kingdom. It focused on The Resurrection and His Kingdom, after death! Pilate thought he could authorize religious leaders to kill Jesus’ body, but physical life was not essential for Jesus’ Kingdom, for His Kingdom is not of this world!
How does Truth impact the desire to be a godly father?
•Truth, for Godly fathers, insists on an Eternal Worldview, not on an earthly worldview.
If fathers have an eternal worldview, then they will listen to the Truth that comes from Jesus, because, “Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”
•Fathers who leave God out of their worldview establish their “truth” on an unstable foundation that will one day perish, along with everything else in this decaying and dying world.
•Fathers, who incorporate God in their worldview, establish “truth” on a stable eternal foundation: the healthiest environment for truth, justice and steadfast love!
•Biblical Truth is consistent with a worldview in which God is the foundation.
oA God who created the world.
oA God who is intimately “here”, right now, in His omnipresence – One who moment by moment sustains His creation, who knows the number of the hairs on our head, and sees when the most “insignificant” creature dies in the most hidden wilderness on our profoundly complex, living planet.
oA God who sent His Son to offer Redemption for those who will trust in Jesus’ provision for sin, in the world.
oA God whose Son will one day come back to establish His Eternal Kingdom.
oA God who will one day justly Judge the world.
Preparing for Life’s Calamities
When the storms of life bring potential calamity upon us, if we are not founded on the stability of God and His Word, then we will find ourselves overwhelmed and overcome in disaster.
Matthew 7
24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
Do you see how worldviews influence an individual’s perception of “truth”?
A worldview that includes an acknowledgment of God (and His Holiness) has a foundation that should not be easily swayed by bribery, deception, or power-brokering-political-leveraging.
Solomon – the wisest man who ever lived, equated Truth and Discernment, or Wisdom, to be the highest treasure a person could seek in this life:
How much better to get wisdom than gold! To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver. Proverbs 16:16
For wisdom is better than jewels,
and all that you may desire cannot compare with her. Proverbs 8:11
King David said: “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” Psalm 14:1
Jesus Christ said: “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31,32
Seeking “truth” from only an earthly perspective eventually ends up in destruction.
Mankind has been seeing truth and knowledge since the beginning of time. It was part of man’s fall – seeking knowledge of good and evil to make one wise.
If fathers avoid an eternal worldview, the truth that they seek and teach their children will be concluded in their death and the death of their children – each facing an eternal destiny without extremely essential preparation.
Truth from an eternal worldview is an essential quality for a father. This establishes a foundation for sustainable Justice, another essential quality that God wants fathers to have.
Without truth, there can be no justice.
2. Justice
Justice: the unbiased search for truth in a conflicting, obscure, or misrepresented event, when it is within our power to accurately determine cause and establish responsibility; sometimes, with the end result being a reporting of the outcome to others, or the disciplining of an offending party.
Justice is an attribute of God that He requires of His children…
Jeremiah 5:1
Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, look and take note!
Search her squares to see if you can find a man,
one who does justice and seeks truth, that I may pardon her.
Hosea 12:6
6 “So you, by the help of your God, return, hold fast [as a bodyguard, doorkeeper, or gatekeeper] to love and justice, and wait continually for your God.”
Isaiah 59
14 Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands far away; for truth has stumbled in the public squares, and uprightness cannot enter.
15 Truth is lacking,
and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.
The Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice.
Justice is resident deep in every human heart. We know it, our spouse knows it, our children know it, and everyone else knows it…we understand justice and injustice.
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•Each of us has an inbred hatred of injustice!
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•We naturally react against injustice.
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•We naturally want to live in a just land.
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•We naturally want to live, work and serve alongside people who are honorable, Godly and just.
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•Unfortunately, we live in a world, in which true justice can be skewed, sidestepped, or “bought off” – bribed away.
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•As it has been said, “There are two sides to every story.” There can often be partial truths on both sides. Those seeking truth should discover both sides in equitable proportion toward an outcome of honorable justice.
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•Justice is not always evident, and cannot always be clearly revealed. Honorable people give latitude, forgiveness and hope whenever possible – even to their own hurt. Dishonorable people deceptively sidestep justice.
When Wisdom Reveals Justice there is Great Rejoicing
Solomon as a younger and newly crowned king, revealed Godly wisdom in one such circumstance, by discovering the identity of the true mother, between two women claiming ownership of the same child. He wisely revealed the emotions and jealously of the women by threatening to “divide the baby” with his sword…giving a half of the child to each woman. In doing so he found a way to reveal to everyone present, the identity of the “real” mother of the child, through the women’s emotional responses – one wanting to allow the child to die so neither would have the child, and the other desperately wanting to save the child, by letting the child live – even if given to the wrongful mother. He discovered justice, gave the child to the one who wanted the child to live (even at her potential personal loss), and the people rejoiced in Solomon’s wisdom in finding justice. They were delighted such a wise and just king was their leader.
Wisdom that brings true justice by those in leadership is a great blessing to all involved.
Those in leadership, who corrupt justice for their own ends, bring a “cloud” of confusion, shame and eventual demise, to those under their disgraceful leadership. Just as Pilate, in his superficial interview of Jesus, was so concerned about how he was perceived in his own world, so unjust leadership can be concerned more with how they are perceived their own world than the fuller Body of Christ, and the Kingdom of Christ.
For the Believer in Christ, we stand against injustice, but injustice cannot be rectified through vengeance or retaliation. A believer in Christ places vengeance in the rightful Hands of God, who is the only One who can justly Judge each person.
Romans 12
19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine,
I will repay, says the Lord.”
Those who allow injustice should repent of their sin before God and seek forgiveness from the person or persons whom they have wronged.
Sustainable Justice
Sustainable Justice is a quality God wants every father to have, so he will not fall under the defilement of bitterness when mankind’s justice falls short, or when the desire for human vengeance seeks to overcome our soul.
This justice looks to God to make all things right, either now, or in eternity.
1 Timothy 5
24 The sins of some men are conspicuous, going before them to judgment, but the sins of others appear later. 25 So also good works are conspicuous, and even those that are not cannot remain hidden.
It is essential that fathers establish their lives and the teaching of their family about Biblical Truth. It is expected that an honorable father make just and impartial decisions. Truth and justice are then balanced, in the life of the Godly father, with the understanding, tenderness, and care of Steadfast Love.
3. Steadfast Love
Steadfast Love: a gracious continuation of love and care, inconsiderate of the personal cost.
A father can be determined to find truth and make just decisions, but if his truth and justice is not balanced with steadfast love, then his determination to be upright can be riddled with dogmatism, legalism and disciplinarianism, driving his family and others away from him. On the other hand, if he only manifests emotional love to the exclusion of truth and justice, then there is not the strength of character that a father must exemplify through balancing each of these necessary virtues.
Psalm 89:14
14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.
Look how the Scriptures bless us by revealing God’s Steadfast Love!
Psalm 103
1 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!
2Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits,
3who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases,
4who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
5who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6The Lord works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed.
7He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel.
8The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever.
10He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
13As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
14For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.
God is the Perfect example for every father, in the balance of Truth, Justice and Steadfast Love! What profound and brilliant pursuits for any father!
Conclusion
Sometimes the world goes through a famine that is not of food…
Amos 8
11“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord God,
“when I will send a famine on the land—
not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water,
but of hearing the words of the Lord.
12They shall wander from sea to sea,
and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the Lord,
but they shall not find it.
It seems we may be in a famine these days: a famine of Truth, of Justice and of Steadfast Love.
Because worldviews have been so skewed as not to include God, we do not know Truth. Because the values of worldly truth allow for deception and lack of integrity, we can often find ourselves without Justice. Because of deceptive truth and immoral justice, we find love so skewed through sensuous carnality, that depth of commitment and endurance has little resemblance to Steadfast Love.
Fathers, today, I would like to encourage you to exemplify what God our Heavenly Father portrays to us: the amazing qualities of Truth, Justice and Steadfast Love!
Micah 6:8
8 He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
