#Jesus22 - Daily DevotionalsSample

Cleaning up with God

During my studies, my professor confronted me with the following question: Why do you believe in God?
I opened my mouth and wanted to answer. But then I hesitated and closed my mouth again. Yes, why actually? Because I grew up believing? Because I thought I would fit in better with my family? Because that's how it's done? Why, actually?

When I found my answer after a long time of reflection, the next question came up: WHAT kind of God do I believe in? What is God like for me? A loving father? A strict judge? An empathetic friend? A jealous lover? Is God weird, strange, or even scary when it comes to the Holy Spirit? I asked myself this question very intensely, and I had to come to terms with a lot.

Our image of God has been shaped. Shaped by narratives of others. Shaped by what is written in the Bible. Shaped by our own experiences, and shaped by other, familiar people. Depending on what experiences one has had with one's own father, for example, the FATHER image is formative for the image of God. It can cause TRUST but also MISTRUST. But what is God really like? How can I get to know Him? I get to know people best through relationships. No matter what others say about a person, I like to make up my own mind. I spend time with people and get to know them better and better. It's the same with God. God introduced Himself to Moses as "YHWH," which means "The One I am" or even "The One I will show Myself to be!" -- in other words: "I will show you who I am. There is no description that fits me, because it is subjective. Get involved with me, and I will show you who I am!" So for some time now, I have also been cleaning up my image of God. I think about why I think about Him the way I do. I ask Him if maybe I have a wrong image of Him, and I ask Him to show me where this image comes from. So it's a kind of "spiritual" decluttering that I'm tackling, and it keeps strengthening my trust in God.

ACTION STEP

Today it is time for spiritual decluttering: ask God to show you if there is a lie about Him that you believe. Ask where this lie comes from, and ask Him to show you the truth about Himself.