Have you ever considered doing a T-chart regarding what you know about God in the left column and what you believe about God as it pertains to you in the right column? I wasn’t given this assignment, but it came to mind this morning as I was going through my devotional time.

Going to church all of my life I’ve learned a good deal about God from scripture I read and the voice of man. For much of my life I took what I knew and believed God to be much like the Old Testament described Him. He judged and punished and I feared it immensely. It wasn’t fear that built trust, it was fear as in “keep your distance”.

As I began my involvement with Celebrate Recovery exactly 16 years ago in June of 2007, I began to see some huge differences in God’s behaviors. When I started to simply be open about my past and my struggles of present with it, I received NO JUDGEMENT. I received NO PUNISHMENT. What I received instead was LOVE and GRACE. At first I thought this was only because the few people who found out were simply nice. That wasn’t really the case, Yes, they were nice, but they saw all of this through the lens of love and grace which God is and God gives.

Today, my right column about what I believe about God as it pertains to me is amazingly and humbly thankful and growing. How I love HIM!