WHEN I WAS A CHILD, I TALKED LIKE A CHILD, I THOUGHT LIKE A CHILD, I REASONED LIKE A CHILD. WHEN I BECAME A MAN, I PUT CHILDISH WAYS BEHIND ME. NOW WE SEE BUT A POOR REFLECTION AS IN A MIRROR; THEN WE SHALL SEE FACE TO FACE. NOW I KNOW IN PART; THEN I SHALL KNOW FULLY, EVEN AS I AM FULLY KNOWN
(1 Corinthians 13:11-12).
As a child, your brain recorded every experience since the time of birth very accurately. Not only were the facts of an experience permanently recorded, but also the interpretations that were concluded at the time of the event, as well as the emotions that were bound to the interpretations.
Realize that your childhood conclusions were sold under sin to the father-of-lies, and these false beliefs distorted your perception of God, even as an adult.
Because of these childhood conclusions, you probably wonder, “Am I good enough for God if I was not even good enough for my own mom during childhood? Would God banish me as my dad did, because of the mistake I made as a child? Would God keep me at arm’s length like my friend did when I did not please him as a little girl/boy? Does God even notice me, or am I invisible to Him, too?”
NOW THIS IS ETERNAL LIFE: THAT THEY MAY KNOW YOU, THE ONLY TRUE GOD, AND JESUS CHRIST, WHOM YOU HAVE SENT
(John 17:3).
Accept that God is not like your childhood dad. God is not like your childhood mom. God is not like your childhood friends. Obtain Truth for your childhood conclusions from the Lord Jesus, so you may get to know the true God for who He really is.
WE KNOW ALSO THAT THE SON OF GOD HAS COME AND HAS GIVEN US UNDERSTANDING, SO THAT WE MAY KNOW HIM WHO IS TRUE. AND WE ARE IN HIM WHO IS TRUE—EVEN IN HIS SON JESUS CHRIST. HE IS THE TRUE GOD AND ETERNAL LIFE
(1 John 5:20).
Have you been comparing God to your childhood dad, mom, or friends? Then, you do not really know Him. Instead, you are seeing Him through the eyes of your childhood conclusions, which have been sold under sin to the father-of-lies.
Do you want to know God? Surrender your childhood conclusions to the Lord Jesus, just the way you perceive them. Then, you may get to know God fully, even as you are fully known by Him.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, I submit my childhood conclusions to You, moment-by-moment, so I may receive understanding about You, the Perfect Father, and the Holy Spirit.
Maintain an Awareness
We have all eaten from the fruit of deception—believing and accepting negative, destructive beliefs about ourselves, God, and others that are not true.