Would you rather be judged from afar or misunderstood from up close?

Would you rather have someone draw faulty conclusions about you from a distance, or misinterpret your expressed intentions?

It’s not a fun “would you rather” question because both options stink. We’ve all had people make unfair assessments about us from afar, and we’ve all had people misunderstand the good things we were trying to communicate or do.

It hurts to feel stereotyped, judged, or misunderstood and it elicits the cry: “If you really knew me, you wouldn’t think those things about me!”

• If you understood my heart, you wouldn’t question my motives.
• If you understood my introverted temperament, you wouldn’t mistake it for aloofness or disinterest.
• If you understood how deeply I think and feel, you wouldn’t think my sanguine nature is shallow or insincere.
• If you really knew me, you would love me.

Do you think that’s true of God?

Do you think our current view of Him accurately reflects His character and nature, or have we inadvertently judged and misinterpreted Him?

A low or warped view of God will keep us from taking risks and spending our life in His service. And the tragedy of those low or warped views is that they’re usually formulated through misinterpretations or judgments from afar.

The cure? Relationship. The best way to shatter a faulty perception is to relate with reality. When I truly get to know you my inaccurate perceptions of you fall by the wayside.

How well do we know God? How intentional are we about knowing Him more?

The cure for the common life is a life lived out of our sweet spot for the glory of God. However, in order to truly live for His glory we must know and trust Him. Perhaps this point in our summer reading program is the perfect time to press in to know Him more.

Grace Church summer reading program, The Cure for the Common Life, Chapter Three: “Read your life backward.”