From the Fear of a Judge to the Freedom in Jesus
In my life, I have encountered two distinct ways of understanding our relationship with God. The first is the approach of the Just Judge . This is the version many of us were raised with—a heavy focus on the absolute holiness of God and the terrifying weight of sin. Growing up, the message was often a list of "traps" and consequences: "Stealing will send you to hell." "Fornication will send you to hell." When you grow up with this, you don't see a Father; you see a Punisher. For many of us, this approach created a cycle of defeat. When I found myself in those situations, I didn't run to Jesus; I condemned myself and stayed in the sin. I believed that because I had failed, God could no longer love me. I was trapped in a "Performance Trap" where my mistakes defined my worth and my future. The Discovery of the Love of Jesus It wasn't until my adulthood that I discovered the second, which I like to call The Love Approach —the truth of ...
