God Image: The Impact of Seeing God without Distortions (Part 1 of 2)

Revealing God the Father to human beings was one of the purposes of Christ's ministry. He wanted His hearers to know God and to view Him accurately. In this episode, Ted Witzig Jr. explains how our God image is formed and the impact that it has on us. While we will never understand God perfectly in this life, we can work to be sure we are not viewing Him through distorted lenses. It is important to note… * Everyone has a God concept and a God image. * How we picture God and believe He feels toward us are very impactful in how we relate to Him. * Those things we know about God (i.e., 'head-knowledge') make up our God concept. * Our God concept is formed by information that we learn about Him from the Bible and what others teach us. * Those things we feel about God, including how we picture Him, feelings we feel toward Him, and how we imagine He feels towards us is called our God image. * Our God image is formed through life experiences including our relationship with major attachment figures (primarily one's father and mother). * Positive influences such as love, security, mercy, and relationships with benevolent authority figures lead toward the development of a healthy God image. * Trauma, mental illness, loss, and wounded trust are all experiences that can have a negative impact on our God image.