A number of years ago Robert Kiyosaki wrote book about being raised by two fathers. Each taught him a different perspective on money management. Rich Dad, Poor Dad went on to become a New York Times best-seller. It’s no surprise that our parents wield a big influence over our thinking. How we perceive the world and ourselves is largely formed when we are young and at home.

Those perceptions carry forward in how we perceive God, our Heavenly Father, as well. When we read in the Bible about God’s love for us, we might think of it as nothing more than sentiment. Words like those found in 1 John 3:1, “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God,” might leave us feeling good about the prose, but little else. We might even say the Lord’s prayer on Sunday, “Our Father which art in Heaven…,” and think nothing about God’s relationship to us as another Dad.

But when we read about God’s love for us, or any other truth in the Bible, we have a choice to make. We can reject it entirely. Or we can accept it. Or, even better still, we can go further and embrace it. There’s a difference between these last two options. Accepting something is to acknowledge its reality, much like accepting that the sun rises and sets every day. Embracing something, on the other hand, is to let its truth so deeply penetrate us that it affects not only what we think about it, but how we then live. When the Apostle John writes that God loves us so much that he calls us children of God, he’s inviting us to do more than to accept a theological truth. He’s inviting us into a special kind of embrace. One that leaves a permanent imprint on our lives.

The video presentation that follows presents three truths about God that can help us embrace Him more. They are simple truths with profound implications. I contrast the role of our earthly father, Poor Dad, with our Creator Father, Rich Dad, sharing examples from my own experience learning to return the embrace of my Rich Dad.