Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God.

1 John 3:1 (NKJV)

Jesus desires that we have the same relationship with the Father that He has, and He spent much of His earthly ministry revealing God the Father to an orphaned world. Sin estranged us from God, but sin could not stop God from reaching out to us. The Cross of Christ fully accomplishes the reconciliation we need with God and the Holy Spirit in us bears witness with our spirits that we are the children of God.

The finished work of the Cross is so complete that it provides us with the perfect means to return to God. All the demands of God were met in Christ, so there is no need to fear rejection or falling short of His expectations. This frees us from a performance mindset and selfish motivation to gain God’s acceptance and approval through our own efforts. Rather we are healed from an orphan spirit into the fullness of what the Father has for us as His sons and daughters.

Stop checking for faults in your relationship with God.

If you don’t curb this unhealthy habit, it will lead to spiritual immaturity, doubts about your salvation and even unbelief. Allow the devil no opportunity to plague your mind and convince you of the exact opposite of what God has already declared to be true about you in Christ.

We do not need to earn God's love; instead, we simply surrender to His perfect love. Surrendering means believing God has fully and eternally forgiven us of our sins. As a result, we can rest assured that God is pleased with us and will surely reward us as we seek Him with faith. This opens the way for us to encounter and experience intimacy with God as our Father.

The gift and blessing of intimacy enable us to recognise our brokenness and need for healing and to discover that healing comes from our heavenly Father, who heads the wounds of every broken heart. (Psalm 147:3).