Many choose to view God as an all powerful judge who is eager to plague us with disease, disaster, and disgrace when we tick him off. A list of do’s and don’ts become our gauge to measure our success in pleasing him. We think if we don’t live up to God’s expectations He will zap our lives with a lightning bolt to shock us into obedience. Others choose to view God as caring and kind.
How we view God can influence our actions and motives, even subconsciously. Theologian A.W. Tozer expressed it this way in The Knowledge of the Holy: “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” It affects every choice we make. Tozer compared having a right concept of God to a foundation of a building. “Where it is inadequate or out of plumb, the whole structure must sooner or later collapse.”
Some have laid a wrong foundation for building a relationship with God by becoming Christians just to escape eternal punishment. If we turn to God because we are afraid He will burn us in a lake of fire if we don’t, it is like marrying someone just so they won’t kill us. It’s not the kind of foundation a loving relationship can build upon. One lives in constant fear that if God is not pleased, He will open the trap door to hell.
On the other hand, if we embrace God because He sent His only son to live among us (John 1:14), serve us (Mark 10:42-45), and freely die for us (John 3:16, John 10:18), our foundation becomes one of love not fear. In fact God did all these things for us because He does love us – unconditionally. He might hate what we do sometimes, but that never deters His love for us.
Consider this…God doesn’t need to zap us into obedience, because sin carries its own penalty. When we misbehave we set off an automatic “cause and effect” sensor. In other words, we will reap what we sow and what goes around will eventually come around to bite us in the back side.
Although it’s more convenient to just blame God for our troubles, God is not the enemy. God is love. (1 John 4:8) Just because He doesn’t give us what we want, doesn’t mean He doesn’t love us. Just because He doesn’t miraculously intervene every time we ask Him to, doesn’t mean He doesn’t love us.
How we choose to view God determines our relationship with him. Viewing God as love helps us enter into this relationship feeling loved, accepted, and wanted. God is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all working together in harmony. God invites us to participate in this loving relationship and know Him intimately. Trust and confidence are built by daily walking and talking with Him. He desires to be a helper of our joy, not a policeman of our faith. (2 Corinthians 1:24) As we come to know God more intimately we realize He has only our best interest in mind. He is for us, not against us. God is love!
Suggestions for practicing this choice…
- Repeat this phrase when needed; “Everyone else may think I’m a jerk, but God loves me.”
- Resist the temptation to think God is out to get us. Say this instead, “God is for me, not against me.”
- Start building a relationship with God by daily talking to Him and reading His Word – the Bible.
- If this seems overwhelming start small but be consistent. Even 5 minutes a day is better than nothing.
- As we do this, ask God to help us see Him as a God of love.
