How the Orphan Heart differs from that of a Son
As God strives to reach out to us as our Father, our position and our identity changes from an orphan-like spirit to one of sonship. This useful table helps us understand the difference.
| Orphan | v | Son |
|---|---|---|
| God as Master | IMAGE OF GOD | God as a loving Father |
| Independent / Self-reliant | DEPENDENCY | Interdependent / Acknowledges Need |
| Live by the Love of Law | THEOLOGY | Live by the Law of Love |
| Insecure / Lack peace | SECURITY | Rest and Peace |
| Strive for the praise, approval, and acceptance of man | NEED FOR APPROVAL | Totally accepted in God’s love and justified by grace |
| A need for personal achievement as you seek to impress God and others, or no motivation to serve at all | MOTIVE FOR SERVICE | Service that is motivated by a deep gratitude for being unconditionally loved and accepted by God |
| Duty and earning God’s favor or no motivation at all | MOTIVE BEHIND CHRISTIAN DISCIPLINES | Pleasure and delight |
| "Must" be holy to have God’s favor, thus increasing a sense of shame and guilt | MOTIVE FOR PURITY | "Want to" be holy; do not want anything to hinder intimate relationship with God |
| Self-rejection from comparing yourself to others | SELF-IMAGE | Positive and affirmed because you know you have such value to God |
| Seek comfort in counterfeit affections: addictions, compulsions, escapism, busyness, hyper-religious activity | SOURCE OF COMFORT | Seek times of quietness and solitude to rest in the Father’s presence and love |
| Competition, rivalry, and jealousy toward others’ success and position | PEER RELATIONSHIPS | Humility and unity as you value others and are able to rejoice in their blessings and success |
| Accusation and exposure in order to make yourself look good by making others look bad | HANDLING OTHERS’ FAULTS | Love covers as you seek to restore others in a spirit of love and gentleness |
| See authority as a source of pain; distrustful toward them and lack a heart attitude of submission | VIEW OF AUTHORITY | Respectful, honoring; you see them as ministers of God for good in your life |
| Difficulty receiving admonition; you must be right so you easily get your feelings hurt and close your spirit to discipline | VIEW OF ADMONITION | See the receiving of admonition as a blessing and need in your life so that your faults and weaknesses are exposed and put to death |
| Guarded and conditional; based upon others’ performance as you seek to get your own needs met | EXPRESSION OF LOVE | Open, patient, and affectionate as you lay your life and agendas down in order to meet the needs of others |
| Conditional & Distant | SENSE OF GOD’S PRESENCE | Close & Intimate |
| Bondage | CONDITION | Liberty |
| Feel like a Servant/Slave | POSITION | Feel like a Son/Daughter |
| Spiritual ambition; the earnest desire for some spiritual achievement and distinction and the willingness to strive for it; a desire to be seen and counted among the mature. | VISION | To daily experience the Father’s unconditional love and acceptance and then be sent as a representative of His love to family and others |
| Fight for what you can get! | FUTURE | Sonship releases your inheritance! |