Who Do You Think God Is?

“The God I worship is a loving God,” said the Old Pro. “I don’t think he made any junk.” Even though many people would agree with that statement, most of us tend to think about ourselves negatively, and sometimes we assume God does too. Perhaps he loves us like a harsh disciplinarian loves his trainees, or maybe he’s more like a disappointed parent loving a problem child. We often define ourselves by our mistakes and then beat ourselves up for them. We end up living under an impossible standard.

It’s true that God’s standards are extremely high, but he also knows we are not capable of living up to them and provides a way for us to receive Jesus’ scorecard in place of our own. The reason he made us in his image was for us to be able to relate to him in love. If we’re ever going to experience his love, we have to understand that he loves us because he wants to, not because he has to. He places an enormous value on our lives.

When we think our value in God’s eyes is up for grabs, we live under the weight of constant pressure and impossible expectations. But when we real-ize our self-worth is securely anchored in his love, we can relax. Yes, we still make mistakes at times, but he offers us more mulligans than we could ever need. We can try to correct our mistakes and change our behavior without feeling the weight of guilt and shame. We put the rat-race for results behind us. We can endure the ups and downs of the game of life because we have the unshakeable assurance that we are loved, forgiven, and accepted in his eyes.

Questions: How do you think God sees you? How does that perception affect the way you think and live? How does the understanding that God highly values you and will not change his love for you resolve any insecurities, anxieties, and need to prove yourself?