For now, we see only a 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 13:12

It is instinctive to overcorrect.  If I was raised in an overly strict home and was hurt by an iron hand, I will create a home with few boundaries.  If I was raised in an atmosphere of permissiveness and saw the fallout of rebellion, I will parent with a heavy hand.  Unprocessed pain causes me to swing the pendulum to the opposite extreme.  

This same principle holds true if God was misrepresented to me in my formative years.  If I was told that He was harsh, angry, and unreasonable, I will grow up to dismiss Him as Judge and Ruler, in favor of a God who is loving and accepting of all people and all behaviors.  Overcompensating always gives me a vision of God that is skewed.  As a child in His kingdom, I can’t afford even one distortion. 

Defining my past as God defines it is so important.  Allowing Him to diagnose it drops a plumbline of truth into my perspective.  I am the child of a God who is perfectly balanced.  I don’t need to be skittish as He re-fathers me.  I’ll experience Him as loving.  Just.  Disciplinary.  Gentle.  Fair.  Safely intimate with Him, distortions in my own parenting style will come into view, and I will make corrections. 

An imperfect upbringing isn’t the only catalyst that weaves distortions.  Satan devises schemes that build deception upon deception.  If he can get me to believe a lie about God, he knows that trust will erode.  I’ll accuse God of being too ‘one-way.’  This will wreak havoc on my parenting and in my relationship with my Heavenly Father.  Every day, the Truth-teller wants to expose lies.  Why?  Lies hurt the children that He loves.  And distortions that cause us to overcompensate in our parenting hurt the children that we love.    

Show me where I don’t yet know You.  Amen