5 Assumptions About God And Why They Are WrongSample

My View of God Affects My View of People

Assumption: God is waiting for me to mess up

God is not waiting for us to mess up. He is and has always been working to redeem us from our mess; to forgive us of our sins, to cleanse us, and to make reconciliation with God possible. God is not here to condemn us. We stand self-condemned, walking a pathway that leads to death. Rather, God came to free us from death and sin and offer us eternal life with him (John 3:16-17).

Why then do we still think God is out to get us? I think it’s because we have condemned and judged others. Our idea of God becomes an extension of our own twisted heart when we think God always judges, and those who follow God will exact his judgment on others. Maybe it makes us feel bigger or better. We wait and look for people to mess up and then, instead of becoming ministers of reconciliation for a loving God, we send false messages of condemnation and judgement.

Our view of God affects the way we view and interact with people. If we truly know God’s love for us, sinners redeemed and restored by his mercy, then we will see people as our brothers and sisters who need to see God’s love through us. We are no longer condemned. We have been pardoned. We want to tell others—the ones we used to condemn—about the salvation found in Christ. We view them with compassion, as men and women whose value and worth have been tarnished by sin, yet who yearn to be redeemed.

When we experience the love of God in our lives and begin to see and respond to people the way that God sees and responds to us, we will be excited to have God working with us. We will be grateful. And in that moment, our fears and anxiety toward God will be replaced with thanksgiving and peace.

May our heart cry be: “God, we want to love people the way that you loved us. We want to be full of your joy and to see that joy overflow into the lives of others. We want our words and life to be a message of hope and freedom in Christ Jesus.”