Our View of God: Thoughts by E

E meaning my sweet sweet best friend, Elizabeth Bauman. Today, she's here to shed a little light on how we see God. 

Over time, we learn things about ourselves. I know I know, I’ll pause for a moment so you can grab a pen to jot that down. Clearly, this post is going to be mind blowing. But really, as the days go by, we learn things about ourselves, our relationships, our tendencies in times of conflict or fear, the list goes on and on. However, I think one thing that is hard for us to peg is our view of God, and that’s because it’s always changing.

Now, our view of God is different than our relationship with God. This is because how we view God shapes the way we relate to him. It affects the relationship. On paper, this is a relatively simple concept, but in real life we often don’t see this correlation. Think of it in terms of your regular relationships. If you mostly view your mom as an overbearing control freak, you will relate to her in a way that causes you to either be perfect in order to avoid conflict, or you will fight back to the degree in which you feel attacked. Not healthy, right?
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The same goes with God. This is important to note because it’s not even specific to believers. For example, if a woman views God as a distant, cold father, she will try her hardest to “do good” to earn his love. If a college kid views God as outdated and ridiculous, their relationship may simply consist of church on Christmas and Easter to appease their family. If someone views God as hateful, they will want no relationship at all with Him.

Therefore, our view of God is directly correlated to the ways in which we choose to be in relationship with Him.

The reason I’m saying this is because no matter how our view of God is tainted, he relates to us the same, even though we don’t deserve it.

But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,
    slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. Psalm 86:15

Let’s take the “us” out of it completely. It doesn’t matter what life events, bad theological teaching, horrible churches or negative encounters you’ve had, God can redeem it all. No, God has redeemed it all. By saying “Hey, you think you feel misunderstood? I created everything on this earth with the intention of beauty, goodness and ultimately love to be at the center, and people hate me. Some view me as harsh and cruel when all I want is for them to just know me. BUT, even though you have never been deserving of the victim role that you play, I love you the same now as I did then, and as much as I will forever.”

Guys, relationships take work. They’re difficult and sometimes they just suck. However, with God, half of that drama is removed because His love for us is perfect. So, it’s up to us (the other half) to put in some work and begin by asking ourselves, how is the way in which I view God keeping me from loving Him, accepting His grace and fully giving myself to Him? I think with a little self-reflection and prayer, God will reveal those things to you. He longs to show himself to you… so let Him. Let go of all the messy things the world has told you God is, because once you do that, you will be completely in awe of the One True God and his endless love for you.
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He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters.
Psalm 18:16

I've always wanted to showcase E's writing + photography on here. She has been such a wonderful role model to me and to share her work with you makes me insanely happy! I hope she has inspired you to ask yourself some hard questions and most importantly, pursue an honest relationship with Jesus. 

Thanks for writing this E. Absolutely refreshing.

You can find more of her perspective + killer photography at Candidly E. 

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*What are you struggling most with in your faith right now?
*How would you describe your relationship with Jesus?
*Do you desire to know more, but are hesitant to bring your past to the table? Email me!