29/06/2026
Your image of God is the most important thing about you. It’s the source of your well-being.
Scientific research shows that our gut-level beliefs about God change our brain circuits.
When we worship the true God with our hearts it activates brain pathways and turns on higher brain regions that help us to become more like Jesus — more compassionate, wise, humble, and confident.
But lower views of God correspond with activity in more primitive brain regions involved in selfishness, fear, and anger.
The Bible describes the significance of this too. In John’s gospel we read that knowing the true God and Jesus Christ is how we experience eternal life (17:3). And Paul warns that if we exchange the truth of God for distorted images of him then our minds will become darkened and we will be ruined by sin (Rom. 1:28-31).
Our heartfelt image of God is not just our theological concepts about God, it’s also our emotions, unconscious attitudes, and bodily demeanor toward God.
But for many of us, our image of God has been damaged by childhood wounds, emotional deficits, and/or low self-worth.
Instead of seeing the smiling face of a God who loves us, we might see a frown or a blank stare from a God who judges us or is distant.
It’s easy for us to project onto God. We want to believe that the Lord is always loving, but sometimes we aren’t able to.
Jesus is the one who corrects and heals our trust in God. As we look to him and his ambassadors who are gracious, wise, and empathetic, we’ll experience a renewed sense of trust and understanding of God’s love.
In the image above we’ve listed attributes of God’s love for you. If any of these are hard for you to believe in your heart, take a moment to pray and ask Jesus to help you trust and experience his love in this area.
You might also want to talk to a friend or spiritual director who can minister God’s love to you through gentle listening and empathy.
Comment SD for the link to meet with one of Soul Shepherding’s Spiritual Directors ❤️