AS HUMANITY EVOLVES SPIRITUALLY, SO WILL OUR CONCEPTS OF GOD

By Jerry DeGregory on December 14, 2022 • ( 1 Comment )

GOD’S PEACE BE WITH YOU

It is time to recognize that some of the things we have been taught about the character of God are inaccurate, most especially those that attribute to God some of the worst, most dysfunctional, most unloving attributes that, unfortunately are characteristic of far too many people, but are NOT characteristic of God.

Finding the Creator, God, inside is our greatest task and it is time to make that discovery. Regrettably, that task has been made more difficult by thousands of years of teaching that have misdirected our attention, telling us that God is separate and far away, a powerful “other” whose wrath is to be feared. Know that you do not have to die to join God in a far away place “up there.” Recognize the contradiction in the teaching that God is in heaven and you must die and be judged worthy in order to be with Him, yet simultaneously teaching that God is everywhere. That last part is right, nothing exists in the absence of God. That means God is here and present now in each of us. You do not have to go anywhere other than where you are now to find God. But you do have to discard the blinders that misdirect your attention.

See the contradiction in teaching that God is of the highest love yet has the most unloving and destructive of human characteristics. Vengeful and wrathful humans are comfortable with an image of God that has the characteristics they most admire. They want a god who can crush his enemies and make them suffer. Those are the attributes they want for themselves and most admire in others, so that is the image of God that we have inherited from dysfunctional human beings. It is my hope that as humanity becomes more loving they will recognize that God is more loving than we have been taught. As we ourselves become more loving we will be more accepting of the truth that I am grateful to say we CAN find in widely accepted scripture: God is love and that love is pure, beyond any that humans can conceive: The ONE who loves with this pure love NEVER hurts the loved one. This love is unconditional. God loves each of us and we therefore have nothing to fear from God.

Fear of God reflects a misunderstanding of God’s love and is a barrier to our moving closer to God. I have witnessed people suffer needlessly because of this fear. Surely we can see that humans instinctively do not move closer to anything they fear. See how harmful it is to teach, or preach, a fear of God? You will not find God as long as you carry that fear; you cannot find peace as long as you carry that fear. Peace to you now and always. –JLD