5. My image of God can be influenced by culture, friends, family, and church.

How have you developed your image of God? Did it come from culture, family, friends, or the Bible? Or maybe that’s something you have never thought much about.

What authority figures in your life influence your image of God?

How much attention do you give to what you allow to influence your image of God?

In what ways has God influenced or informed your image of Him?

Our image of God is of utmost importance but that does not mean that we will automatically imagine God in healthy and correct ways. There are many influences that challenge an accurate perception of God. 

Our culture often works to oppose the idea that God even exists, let alone that He adds any real value to our lives. Culture prioritizes the material world, the things we can, touch, hold, manipulate, gather, own, and treasure. Culture also teaches us to value power, prestige, position, and appearance. 

But God invites us to place higher value on the spiritual nature of our lives and to devalue material possessions and human approval. Our friends and family work to reinforce these value systems, adding weight to one or the other. Even church, can give us incomplete or inaccurate images of God. 

Eventually, we must get our image of God from God. We must learn to listen to God, to learn for ourselves from Him how He wants us to think of Him. As this “God-experienced” image of God develops, our relationship with Him will follow.