Welcome for life

ABBA

When looking at divine creation, it is possible to verify that God created human relationships in such a way that the family is the healthy place where a child must be in order to be nurtured and educated so that he can grow and develop as a human being. The human family is not something random, but a reflection of what is the image and likeness of God himself. All the references in the Bible that illustrate God as Father and Jesus as Son are evidence that God created humanity in a way that mirrored his person.

As a reflection of this reality, it is possible to perceive in motherhood and fatherhood one of the most beautiful ways of seeing the image and likeness of God. However, being a father and mother to those who are our flesh and blood is not exactly what God did for humanity. God became Father to those who are not as he is, just as Jesus was, but adopted them to become like his true Son (Romans 8:29).

A principle in biblical writings, whether in the Old or New Testaments, is that God includes in his family people who were previously orphaned, abandoned, lonely, and even mad at him. A clear example of God identifying with orphans and widows is in Psalm 68:5-6, which says that God is the Father who places the lonely in a family. It is worth reflecting that to be saved is to be adopted by God and enter into the ultimate and intimate relationship existing in the Trinity itself.

The orphan suffers many injustices because he is outside the family context, but God himself “justifies the orphan and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him clothing and food” (Deuteronomy 10.18). So he instructs us: “Learn to do good! Seek justice, end oppression. Fight for the rights of the orphan, plead the cause of the widow” (Isaiah 1:17).

Living as a family is God’s plan and, therefore, the right of every child and adolescent on this earth. Yet millions of children grow up without the benefit of permanent relationships with loving, caring adults. Their families were torn apart due to poverty, illness, death, wars, marginalization, violence, abuse, and neglect.

Christians committed to the Kingdom of God, consistent with the gospel, who ardently desire to be relevant in this generation, have the privilege and opportunity to be the incarnation of God’s love in transforming tragic stories into love stories through foster care, adoption, volunteering, support, offering, and other interventions.