Ok! In this post we look at , one powerful lie that keeps us from experiencing God’s love fully in:
the biblical story of two brothers.
Specifically the…
Brother of the prodigal son
This is part 2! You can find part one here!
Luke 15:28-30 (CSB) “The older son became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!'”
“Many believers live like the older brother—physically present but emotionally distant from the Father’s heart. We can easily fall into a performance-based relationship with God where we serve Him out of duty rather than devotion. The older brother had never left home physically, but his heart was far from understanding his father’s love.”
Read: Luke 15:25-32
The older brother was unaware of a crucial truth. The enemy led him to believe that true happiness and fulfillment could be found in perfect performance and duty rather than in relationship with the Father.
In this part of the parable shared by Jesus, we see a son who stayed home, followed the rules, and did everything right on the outside. Yet when his wayward brother returns, his response reveals his true heart. The Bible tells us he became angry and refused to join the celebration, revealing the distance between him and his father’s heart despite his physical closeness
“This kind of spiritual blindness is everywhere today, showing up as religious performance without relationship. It leaves many believers exhausted, bitter, and judgmental—so what’s the cure? GOD’S GRACE.”
Remember today’s focus scripture: The older son said, “Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you…” He saw himself as a slave, not a son.
Luke 15:31-32
“‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.'”
“Now let’s take a closer look at the older brother. Notice how he referred to his relationship with his father: ‘All these years I’ve been slaving for you.’ Despite never leaving home, he related to his father as a slave to a master, not as a son to a father.
At this point in the story, he understands his father to be a demanding Lord, but not a Generous Father… at least not yet.”
Here’s what I want you to focus on: He believed the lie that his father’s love was conditional, based on his performance.
“Look carefully at his complaint in Luke 15:29-30:
‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.’
He thought he needed to earn his father’s generosity! He was keeping track of his good deeds because he didn’t believe in his father’s love. So he could not see that ‘everything’ the father had was already his.”
Jesus addresses this very mindset in John 15:15 when He tells His disciples, ‘I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.’ God is inviting us into an intimate relationship where He shares His heart and plans with us.
The older brother missed this beautiful truth:
that the Father desires not just our obedience, but our companionship.
He wants to share His thoughts, feelings, and purposes with us. When we view our relationship with God primarily through the lens of service and duty, we miss the intimacy He offers.
God doesn’t just want your work; He wants your heart.
This invitation to friendship with God leads us directly to the greatest commandment. In Matthew 22:37-38, Jesus tells us:
‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.’
Unlike the older brother who compartmentalized his relationship with the father to mere duty, God is calling us to full devotion—holding nothing back. This isn’t about rigid religious observance but about wholehearted love that engages every part of who we are.
Our heart represents our emotions and affections, our soul encompasses our very being and identity, and our mind involves our thoughts and intellect.
When we love God this way, we bring our complete selves into the relationship. The older brother gave his father his hands but withheld his heart. True fulfillment comes when we stop dividing ourselves and instead offer God our undivided devotion, experiencing His love and presence in every aspect of our lives.
“But how did the father respond? He went out to find him (just as he had run to find the younger son), addressed him tenderly as ‘my son,’ and reminded him of a truth he had forgotten: ‘everything I have is yours.’ The father wasn’t withholding anything—the older son simply never asked, never celebrated, never embraced his identity as a beloved son with full access to his father’s generosity.”
“The older son could have celebrated at any moment. His self-righteousness kept him outside the feast when he could have been hosting celebrations all along.”
Like the older brother, have you acted out of duty instead of love, believing that God’s blessing depended on your performance?
Here is the good part!
Just as the father in the story, God is continually inviting you to recognize your position as His beloved child—not because you “earned it,” but because of His grace. His abundant provision has always been available to you, waiting for you to simply ask and receive.
Reflection Questions:
1. How does the father’s response to the older son challenge your understanding of God’s generosity?
2. In what ways do you relate to God more as a taskmaster than as a loving Father?
3. What would change in your relationship with God if you truly believed everything He has is already yours to enjoy?
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