Common distorted images of God

There are common distorted images of God carried from our upbringing when we were still children:

1. God is stern, angry, cruel, erratic and revengeful. When a child is naughty, obstinate, and disobedient and make childish misdeeds, parents use God to strike fear on the child.
2. God is easily hurt and offended. When a child has done something ‘bad’ parents usually say to project their own feelings. You hurt Jesus! You offend God!
3. God is the withholder of love. If the child does not act according to the desire of the parents, he is threatened with the loss of God’s love. God is presented as someone who loves us based on the way we perform our duties.
4. God is a policeman and an accountant of our failures. God is presented as being occupied with hostile snooping and recording merits and demerits.
5. God is a temper and a tester. God is often depicted as one who delights in sacrifice, who exacts from us countless sufferings and chastises us when we reject His will.