By Bill Gaultiere © 2011
What a joy it is when we truly know how greatly we are loved by God! But perhaps like many Christians I talk with you struggle to experience God’s love. Your image (or concept) of God may have some damaging distortions. It may need to be renewed.
When we are truly convinced that the holy, sovereign Lord is gracious to us in all situations forever then we will abandon ourselves totally to him and his purposes for us. We will live in peace no matter what happens to us and we will grow more and more to be all that God has created us to be.
It’s so important to our life with God and one another that we grow in our trust and experience of God’s goodness. In 1989 I did my Ph.D. dissertation on this subject so I have a lot to say about it, but I will be brief!
What do you Really Believe about God?
In the mid 20th Century the great devotional writer AW Tozer, in Knowledge of the Holy, his little book with a big view of God, said:
What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us… Were we able to extract from any person a complete answer to the question, “What comes into your mind when you think about God?” we might predict with certainty the spiritual future of that person. (Knowledge of the Holy, p. 1).
We’re talking about something much deeper than our professed beliefs about God. You may say emphatically that you believe God loves you and yet not have a reliable experiential knowledge of God’s love. My question for you is: What is your personal image of God really like? How do you see him in your heart?
Tozer continues:
Our real idea of God may lie buried under the rubbish of conventional religious notions and may require an intelligent and vigorous search before it is finally unearthed and exposed for what it is. Only after an ordeal of painful self-probing are we likely to discover what we actually believe about God (p. 2).
Reflect on these questions to consider to what extent in your daily life you actually appreciate or rely on God as loving:
- Do I appreciate God with me as I do what I’m doing during the day?
- When I’m mistreated (or a loved one is mistreated) do I still trust that God has been good to me?
- If I’m stuck in traffic do I pray?
- Is my heart ever warmed with a sweet sense of God’s presence?
- When I have a problem how long does it take me to ask God what to do?
- When I’m bored or lonely do I turn to God for comfort?
- If I have a health problem (or a loved one does) do I remain thankful to God for his loving kindness?
- If I can’t sleep do I pray or meditate on Scripture?
- When I wake up are my first thoughts of God and my love for him?
Images are Powerful
The pictures and scenes that you carry in your mind are powerful. They carry ideas and emotions. They can form a life script for us.
- The child who internalizes abuse is prone to be re-abused again and again
- If you have a critical parent in your head you probably feel inadequate
- If you grew up in an alcoholic home you saw and experienced emotional detachment and will tend to carry that into your relationships
Whatever storyline you internalize in your personal development (as a child or later in life) affects how you relate to yourself – the way you see yourself and think about yourself – and thus how you relate to God and others. Negative self-images inevitably become negative God-images and vice versa.
How do we renew our personal concepts of God and self? Two primary ways:
- Loving personal relationships with Christ’s Ambassadors
- Renewing our minds in Scripture
The two go together in that we need to experience the truth of God’s word in our relationships with one another in the body of Christ. We need to have Biblical images of God’s love in our minds and we need loving relationships with people who mediate Christ’s love to us.
The word of God washes our minds of the harmful images we may have internalized in childhood or from our culture (Ephesians 5:26). This occurs best in the context of our intimate relationships, like in a good marriage when a husband shares Scripture with his wife, not just verbally but also mediating it through loving relationship (Ephesians 5:22-33).
Step into a Loving Picture with Jesus
Let’s look at five of the wonderful pictures of God’s love that Jesus gives us in Luke’s gospel. We can renew our minds in these storylines. We can pray and let the pictures of God that Jesus gives us seep down from our minds into our hearts, which is the center of our being where we make our choices and carry our orientation for life. These images of God and self heal the distorted images we may carry.
For each Biblical picture there is a common emotional struggle and a corresponding untrue and harmful projection onto God. Most people I talk to struggle with one or more of these distorted images of God. To renew your mind in Jesus’ gospel story you need to get in touch with how you’re hurting and share this with Christ and his ambassadors.
By stepping into the storyline that Jesus offers you can learn to live with a redeeming picture of God at the forefront of your mind and to live by it’s positive message.
Jesus is merciful to me
Maybe you feel inadequate. Maybe you live with an “internal critic” that condemns you. If so at times in your life it has probably felt like God is judging you harshly.
Step into the gospel story of Jesus at a gathering of Pharisees and despite their objections he receives a sinful woman who falls at his feet weeping with gratitude for his forgiveness and love (Luke 7:36-50). See how tenderly Jesus accepts her.
The Good Shepherd accepts me as I am
Perhaps you have struggled with feeling unwanted or alone. Maybe you have longed for a parent or loved one to take initiative to express personal care and love for you. Maybe you feel that the real you on the inside is not really known. In that case it may seem to you that God also overlooks you or is emotionally distant.
Open your heart anew to Jesus as your Good Shepherd. He searches for lost sheep – not only those who need initial salvation from sin, but also those who are emotionally disconnected (Luke 15:4-6). Thank the Lord that he seeks to find and know you.
God is a Gracious Father to me
If you live with pressure to prove yourself – to try harder and do better – then you’re likely to perceive God as having high expectations for you.
Try seeing yourself in Jesus’ Parable of the Prodigal Son. He wanted his inheritance before his father died because he was eager to get out and show the world that he could make it big on his own. He ended up in a pigsty and then shuffled home with his head hung in shame. But look at his father – your Father! – run to embrace you, welcoming you home and lavishing you with loving gifts.
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The Lord is compassionate with me
Maybe you try not to be vulnerable, or emotional. If caregivers and loved ones have been impatient with you then you may feel as if you are “too needy” or “too sensitive.” Probably at times it seems that God is impatient with you.
Recall the Gospel stories of Jesus making time to receive the children: he embraced them, listened to them, and encouraged them (Luke 18:15-17). By prayerfully meditating on this scene you can bring the “inner child” part of you to Jesus to rely on his compassion in a deeper way.
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The risen Christ is here to help me
You may tend to feel that you have to rely on yourself in life, like you can’t count on others to help you or don’t want to. In that case God probably seems distant or preoccupied.
Learning to trust and rely on God with you begins with reminding yourself that the risen Christ is right beside you. His kingdom is all around you – it’s just far off and way later – and you can step into it. After he was crucified Christ rose from the dead and appeared to his disciples (Luke 24:36-40) and he breathed his Spirit on them to emphasize that he will never leave us. This is true for you too so imagine it and appreciate it as often as you can.
Read “You Can Live in Jesus’ Easy Yoke: His Rhythms of Grace for your Daily Stress“ for help renewing your image of God by growing in your apprenticeship to Jesus.
Bill Gaultiere, Ph.D. & Kristi Gaultiere, Psy.D. ~ http://www.soulshepherding.org
