HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED what God thinks of you? Is it hard for you to believe He loves you as much as the Bible says He does? God is so big and sometimes seems so distant... but what is He really like? Do you know anything about His emotions... or His character?

ONE OF THE MOST WONDERFUL REVELATIONS of the Bible is that God is our Father. What do you think of when you hear the word "Father"? Do you automatically think of protection... provision... warmth... and tenderness? Or does the word "Father" paint different kinds of pictures for you? God reveals Himself in the Bible as a gentle... forgiving Father... intimately involved with each and every detail of our lives. It is not only a beautiful picture... but a true one.

HOWEVER, EVERY PERSON SEEMS to have a different idea of what God is like, because they unconsciously tend to attach the feelings and impressions that they have of their own earthly father, to their concept of their Heavenly Father. Each person's own experience with human authority is usually transferred over to how they relate to God. Good experiences bring us closer to knowing and understanding God... just as bad experiences create distorted pictures of the Father's love for us.

HAVE YOU OFTEN WONDERED why God chose to have us enter this world as helpless infants? He could have devised a reproductive system that produced physically complete persons like His "originals"... Adam and Eve. Instead, He opted to create us as beings in process... persons who would slowly grow physically, emotionally, and mentally, and eventually emerge as adults.

MAYBE GOD DESIGNED US to begin our lives as babies, totally dependent and vulnerable, because He intended the family to be the setting in which His love was modeled so that children would grow up feeling understood... loved... and accepted. Nurtured in this kind of loving, secure environment, kids could develop a healthy, God-based self-esteem... and see themselves as wanted... important... valuable... and good.

UNFORTUNATELY, MANY HOMES DO NOT MEET this idea. Countless people have suffered hurt and rejection from their families and have had no real father figure with whom to identify. These experiences have kept them from knowing God as He really is... and have hindered them from enjoying true intimacy with Him.

GOD'S LOVE IS DEMONSTRATED TO BOTH PARENT AND CHILD. As parents, we begin to really understand God's heart towards us as His children. And as children, it is God's will for us to see His love revealed through parental tenderness... mercy... and discipline.

BUT WHAT IF THE IDEAL DID NOT HAPPEN? What if you have been failed in some way by your parental authority? Understanding the character of God is essential if we are to love Him... serve Him... and BE LIKE HIM.

WE WANT TO TALK ABOUT SIX DIFFERENT AREAS of misconception concerning God and His love for us. To ease communication, we will be referring almost exclusivel;y to God's qualities of fatherhood. However, a full revelation of God's parental love is incomplete without the presence of the male and female attributes of parental affection.

"AND GOD CREATED MAN IN HIS IMAGE, IN THE IMAGE OF GOD HE CREATED THEM... MALE AND FEMALE HE CREATED THEM." (Genesis 1:27).