Quite some time ago I did a study called “Love Hunger” by Minirth, Meier, Hemfelt, Sneed and Hawkins. Although I don’t have the book anymore, I still recall one thing vividly: one week it had me list all the attributes of my father and several weeks later it had me list the attributes of God. What I discovered was that my lists were almost identical. Now my dad was a great guy and a strong Christian, but that was sure cutting God short! It was fine as far as it went—loving, wise, ethical, caring, intelligent, but also very strict and demanding.
Oops, that is where I understand now that they clearly differed immensely, but back then I was looking at God as having impossibly high standards, much like my dad. Of course, God is good and cannot tolerate evil, but we have Jesus who covers our sin and intercedes for us. Praise the Lord for that! Of course, we want to be our best selves as Christians, but we have grace to stand in the gap and cover us where we don’t measure up. John 1:16-17 (RSV) says, “And from His fulness have we all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” Thank God for the grace of Jesus Christ.
Consider your own comparisons that you may be making when it comes to God. There are many wonderful people and things in this world that reflect who He is, but ultimately, God is one of a kind. We need to get to know Him on His terms and ask Him to help us see Him clearly.