Almost every language has a short, repetitive word for “father.” It’s “Dadda” in English, “Papa” in spanish and european languages, “Paapa” in Hindi, Baba in Chinese. In Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke, it’s “Abba.”

Who comes up with these simplified words? Not adults, but toddlers. Every person is born with a basic desire to reach out for a parent as we look for someone who loves us perfectly and looks after our needs.

When we cry, “Dada,” “Papa,” “Abba” we are looking for the perfect love of a father. But here’s what we find: our earthly fathers, no matter how good they are, can’t fulfill that. Even good dads eventually let us down, if for no other reason than they can’t be with us forever.

And so, we go through life looking for that fulfillment and security we first yearned for when we cried out “Dadda.” We search for it in romance, reputation, and financial security.

Our spirit yearns for that love and acceptance when we cry out “Abba:” “For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. Instead, you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father!” Romans 8:15
God answers that yearning in Christ, and that releases us from the spirit of slavery – where you identify something you think you need for security , and meaning and you become a slave to it. Where you ask, “Have I done enough? What if I don’t make it? Will I be ruined?”

The Spirit of adoption, by which we cry out “Abba, Father,” releases us from both of those spirits, because he promises us that we are fully loved by our Father and fully protected by him. We are not slaves who need to be afraid; we are sons and daughters who stand secure.

Reflection:

• How has your earthly father modeled God’s love for you? If you did not have a good earthly father, how has your heavenly Father fulfilled all the things you needed in an earthly father?
  
• What do you need to cry out to your Abba Father for today?