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My one-year-old daughter, Hope, has been learning to walk in the last few weeks. Her standing has progressed to deep squats, single steps, and now a few consecutive steps until she falls to the ground and tries again. Often, I will stand on the other side of the room and call out, “Walk to Daddy!” While she is adorable, and we are celebrating her progress, nobody would call her the world’s best walker. She is slow, stumbles, and often loses her balance, causing her to fall. But never once in all her time learning to walk have I ever looked at her with disgust, contempt, or indignation. I do not get sick of her trying or impatient with her efforts. Why is that? Because I am her dad, she is my kid, and I am filled with compassion for her as she learns to walk toward me. 

Child of God, I want you to know that this is how your Heavenly Father sees you. He is not filled with contempt or disgust with you as you stumble and fall; He is filled with patience and compassion. He is your Father in heaven and, as Zephaniah 3:17 famously tells us, “He takes great delight in you.” So much so that He sings a song of joy over you. Try to get your mind around the idea that God is so delighted with you that He has created a song to sing about you right now. This picture is so breathtaking and overwhelmingly beautiful that it is almost hard for us to believe. Yet, believe it because that is how God reveals Himself to us in His Word. The beautiful truth of this verse is that the God of the universe not only loves you, but He is quite fond of you and delights in your very being!

Final Thought: Commit Zephaniah 3:17 to memory!

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