“The greatest knowledge we can ever have is knowing God treasures us. – Francis Chan

I just cannot comprehend how much God loves us. Sometimes I sit and just try to encompass God’s love. I think about how much I love my wife. Then I think about that love multiplied by a hundred. When I find myself unable to grasp that I think, Wow God loves me infinitely more than I can possibly understand.

I like to think about God’s love in terms of a really good dad. (I know this analogy doesn’t even come close to how much God loves us but it encourages me and maybe it will encourage you too.)

I like to imagine our Father as the dad who comes to all of our baseball games. He’s the first one on the bleachers. He cheers the loudest. He never lets His eyes wander off the field. Even if we strike-out, he tells us that we tried our best and we’ll get ‘em next time.

Our Father would be the dad that comes to all of our plays and concerts. He is that dad that offers a standing ovation at the end and takes us out for ice cream after. He’s a dad that would ruffle our hair and give us a kiss and an “I love you” as we leave for school.

Our Father would annoy all of His coworkers because every day he would pull out his wallet, remove picture after picture, and waggle it in front of their noses. “This is my kid’s school picture. This is them at the park. This is them when they first started to crawl. This is them at their fifth birthday party.”

Our Father would be stern and would discipline us. Not out of anger, but out of love. Our Father wants what is best for us, so sometimes that means we have to endure pain. It means we have to touch the oven and get burnt so we know to stay away. It means we have to go through a break up to understand what it means to feel broken. He allows our character to grow and be strengthened. But through it all, He is always beside us, offering comfort and support.

He was there when we got home from school, hurt because our best friend talked bad about us and we felt betrayed. He sat by our bed, day and night, through our recovery after surgery.

He moved us into our dorm room, watched us as we got married, helped us paint our first house, and was the first one there when our own kids were born. And he loved them too.

I don’t know. Maybe it’s just me, but there’s something encouraging about knowing my picture is in God’s wallet and He shows it off to all the angels.

Parents: Try to explain to your children how much you love them. Tell them that God loves them infinitely more.