“And whoever sees Me sees the One who sent Me.” John 12:45

When you imagine what God looks like, or what He acts like, what do you imagine? Our Western culture so often makes God the Father look like an old man with a scowl on His face as He looks down on humanity from a puffy white cloud. Even more, He seems to always have a lightning bolt raised above His head, posed to ‘smite’ all that upset Him. What if I told you this image is not just absurd, but it is nowhere close to how Scripture describes God.

When Jesus stepped off of His Heavenly throne and was born amongst us, God the Father was there too. Scripture tells us that the only way to know the Father is by knowing the Son. Jesus is a part of the Holy Trinity and is the living example of our Heavenly Father. Instead of being an old man with gray hair, distant on a cloud up in the sky, Jesus was born as a baby and lived among us in the dirt and dust of Earth. Instead of looking at humanity with disgust when they made mistakes, He prayed “Father, forgive them!”

If the little voice in your spirit is always telling you that God is angry at you, that you are always wrong, and that He will throw a lightning bolt at you if you slip up one more time, hear this truth: that is the voice of the Enemy. The Enemy wants nothing more than to convince you that you are unlovable, unappreciated, a disappointment, and do not matter. The truth is this: before you were ever born, God the Father knew you. He carefully and purposely crafted you, and placed His image into you. Even more, before you and I were born, He sent His Son to live and die on the Cross for our sins. You are so deeply loved, appreciated, and important that there are no words to describe the depth, height, or length of His love for you.

This week, let’s break down the false image and the lies of the Enemy, and instead view God as our loving Heavenly Father.