14 of 52 Voices April 15th, 2014

The C3 Leaders devotion is a peer weekly reflection from business leaders related to their journey with Christ. Each weekly devotion will be written by a different author from among the C3 Leaders community, 52 unique authors to be exact.

As we go through this next year together, we pray that these words and reflections will encourage you in your relationship with Jesus Christ

Chris Sharpe is the Lead Platform Evangelist at Subsplash in Seattle

When I first became a father, people kept asking me the big question; “How has this changed your life?” At first, I didn’t quite know how to answer the question. There is so much amazing emotion wrapped up in meeting your child for the first time.

As I began to reflect over the first few days and weeks of parenthood, this fresh reality began to reveal new truths about love, family, and God. How could this little person change everything and open new depths of my heart?

After being a dad for a while I thought to myself, “What if I laid out all the things I do as a parent, but removed the fact that it was for my son?” It would look something like this: Every day I would have to take care of a miniature person who doesn’t speak my language, eats my food, relies on me to change his diapers several times a day, takes up my wife’s precious time and my monetary resources, can’t move and thus relies on me to carry him. When he can move he goes where I do not want him to go and he spits up on me at random times. If someone told me that a guy who fit that description was going to live with me, I would not be too excited. However, since it is my son, I love him to the fullest despite the troubling additions to my life. How amazing is that?

I believe that God loves each one of us more than I love my son. Now, if God loves us to such an incredible extent and wants us to love both him and others, what would it look like if we started treating one another with a portion of the love we show to our children? Can you imagine the impact that would have? If I saw my son on the side of the street I would stop to help him no matter what. How often am I willing to stop and help others in need? Through it all I must remember that first God loved me and gave his only son as a sacrifice that I may live! Now that is incredible. So yes, being a father has changed my life and I’m now even more thankful for the love shown to me by the God of the Universe.

Chris Sharpe