November 14, 2015. God’s Love Is Like a Teacher’s Concern for Students
When people read Biblical books of prophecy it may seem that God is full of anger with threats of punishment, but a big-picture perspective reveals God’s love. The prophecies are really warnings. God sees the destruction we’re headed for and his love compels him to warn us.
It reminds me of my feelings when I see destructive behavior in kids at school. Every day I see obvious signs of actions with negative consequences such as bullying , drugs, reckless driving, gossip, cheating, etc. But I also see more innocent behaviors that I know will hurt these kids and others as they become habits; things like laziness, pleasure seeking, anger, selfishness, judgmental attitudes, etc.
I see kids hurting themselves and hurting others. I can visualize pain, anger, suffering in their futures and it makes me wish I could show them the destructive path they are on. I even want to discipline them to a better path, like I do with my own kids, but of course I can’t discipline students at school the way I discipline at home. I do what I can, but I can’t take away their freedom to choose. Not even for my own kids. Ultimately they must suffer the consequences of their choices.
Students often complain about mean teachers, oppressive school rules, etc., and they misjudge caring school staff members because they can’t see what the teachers are really trying to do. Children do the same thing to their parents.
God is our eternal parent, desperately wanting to steer us down the path of joy. Like rebellious children we sometimes think God is a mean, angry, kill-joy, but we’re misinterpreting his loving attempts to guide us into joy and away from destruction.