What Lens Are You Using?

How Your View of God Shapes the Way You Read the Bible.

When you open your Bible, what do you see?

That question isn’t about what page you’re on or which book you’re reading. It’s deeper. What lens are you reading through? Because how you see God changes how you see everything else. And for many of us, that lens has been distorted or cracked.

The Lens of an Angry God

Many grew up with a vision of God as mostly disappointed, frustrated, hard to please, quick to judge, often angry, and constantly evaluating our performance while emotionally distant. We picture Him standing at a distance, arms folded, waiting for us to mess up.

So we read Scripture like a report card. We scan for commands, measure our failures, and brace for the consequences and rejection.

But that’s not who God is.

Jesus said,

He that hath seen me hath seen the Father John 14:9.

If you want to know what God is really like, look at Jesus. He didn’t avoid the broken—He embraced them. He didn’t lecture the guilty—He forgave them. Instead of keeping score, he erased the record.

He isn’t flipping tables at you. He’s sitting at your table. Jesus is not counting your sins; He’s canceling them. He touches the leper, weeps with the grieving, and forgives before you even ask. That’s God.

God is love, 1 John 4:8.

Not “God sometimes loves” or “God loves the worthy.” Just: God is love. That’s His nature.

Reading from Man’s Perspective vs. God’s Perspective

Most of us approach the Bible as if it’s all about us—what we should be doing, where we’re failing, and how to get it right. We read it like a manual for fixing ourselves. But that’s not how God wrote it. We see the rules but miss the relationship. We read it like a list of demands instead of a letter from Someone who loves us.

When I was a teenager, a young lady in our church who had just gotten saved glued the message on the cover of her Bible: “God’s Love Letters to Gayle.” Over 50 years ago, she knew what I am just really learning recently. Check your perspective.

From God’s perspective, the Bible is a story of love, rescue, and relentless pursuit. It’s not the story of man trying to find God. It’s the story of God coming for man.

When Adam hid in the garden, God’s first move wasn’t punishment—it was pursuit:

Adam, where art thou? Genesis 3:9.

He wasn’t angry. He was seeking. That’s not the voice of an angry deity; that’s the voice of a Father looking for His child.

Jesus told the story of the lost sheep—not to show how bad sheep are, but to show how good the Shepherd is. The lost coin, the lost son—it’s all about a God who won’t stop looking until you’re found.

So if your first reaction to Scripture is guilt, shame, or fear, check your lens. Maybe you’re reading it through the eyes of someone who’s bracing for punishment instead of someone being pursued by love.

We’re the Suspicious Ones—Not God

The truth is, we’re the ones who carry suspicion. We doubt God’s goodness. Judgment is what we are bracing for. We’re the ones who are angry, offended, and defensive—not God. We’re suspicious of His motives, not the other way around. But Scripture repeatedly shows us that God moves toward us, even when we pull away.

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, Romans 5:8.

He moved first. God didn’t wait for us to clean up or shape up. He came toward us when we were in our worst state. His love isn’t reactionary—it’s unconditional. He loved first. Always.

If fear shapes your view of God, then His words will sound threatening. But if you know Him as Love, those exact words become healing.

When we don’t believe that—when we think God is holding out on us, testing us, or barely tolerating us—we twist everything we read in the Bible. Grace becomes obligation. Love becomes law. The good news becomes just another burden.

But what if your view is wrong?

How to Fix Your Lens

So, how do you begin to see clearly?

Look at Jesus

Every page of Scripture points to Him. If your interpretation doesn’t align with what you see in Jesus—compassionate, forgiving, pursuing—it needs to be rethought. Every time you read the Bible, filter it through what you know of Jesus. If it doesn’t look like Him, you’re not seeing it clearly yet. He’s the exact image of God, Hebrews 1:3.

Notice who moves first

Throughout the Bible, it’s always God who makes the first move. He initiates, starts, seeks, and restores. Ask, Where is God moving toward man? Where is He showing love first? You’ll start to see it everywhere.

Let go of distorted ideas. Stop assuming God is like you

You might be suspicious, impatient, or conditional in love. God is none of that.

The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy, Psalm 103:8.

Ask the Spirit to help you recognize where you’ve believed things about God that aren’t true. This isn’t about shame—it’s about waking up to the truth of who He is.

Read relationally, not religiously.

Scripture is more than a manual—it’s a mirror of God’s heart. Read it like someone reading a letter from Someone who loves you deeply. Ask the deeper question – Not “What is expected of me?” but “What does this tell me about who God is?”

Be honest about your lens.

Are you reading defensively? Are you expecting disappointment? Ask yourself: How much of this is shaped by fear? How much is shaped by trust?

Let love reshape your view –Let love rewire you

When you see God clearly, everything starts to change. You’ll stop performing and start trusting. You’ll stop hiding and start running toward Him. This isn’t a one-time shift. It’s a continual unveiling of the truth: God is good. He loves you. He desires relationship, not rule-following.

What If God Is Better Than You Thought?

What if the Bible is a love story, not a rulebook? What if God is more kind, patient, and interested in you than you ever imagined? What if every verse is part of a conversation, not a courtroom?

That’s not a demand. It’s a description of what happens when we finally see clearly.

So check your lens.

Imagine opening your Bible and believing, truly believing, that God is good. That He loves you deeply. That He’s for you, not against you. That He desires you, delights in you, and went to the ultimate length to win you.

That’s not wishful thinking. That’s the gospel.

You don’t need to work your way back to God. You just need to look at Him without the angry filter. Let Scripture show you a Father who runs to meet you, throws His arms around you, and calls you beloved.

That’s the foundation. That’s the lens.

Not just what you’re reading, but how you’re reading—and why. When you begin to see the Bible through the eyes of a God who is love, who is good, and who desires you, you’ll stop reading out of fear… and start reading out of wonder.

Are you reading the Bible defensively? Are you reading it as a child of wrath—or as a child of God? When you shift that lens, you won’t just see God differently. You’ll see everything differently.

So check yours.

---

Quotes

God’s love for you is stronger than your doubt, deeper than your confusion, and greater than your past. Christine Caine

When we finally see who God really is, we’ll stop hiding and start coming home. Unknown

God doesn’t run from sinners—He runs to them. Tim Keller

Check Your Lens

When I open my Bible,
I don’t ask what page I’m on—
I ask, what lens am I reading through?

Because how you see God
changes everything.

I used to see Him with arms folded,
brow furrowed,
me under the microscope,
flawed, failing,
a disappointment waiting to happen.
So I read Scripture like a scorecard—
How am I doing?
Where did I fall short?

Every verse felt like a warning,
every chapter a test.

But then I looked at Jesus.

And Jesus didn’t fold His arms.
He stretched them out.
He didn’t shout from a distance—
He showed up at the table,
sat with sinners,
washed dirty feet,
and didn’t flinch when touched by the broken.

He didn’t count sins.
He canceled them.

He didn’t hide the Father’s heart—
He revealed it.

So now, when I open the Word,
I don’t hear a Judge.
I hear a Father:
Where are you?
Not to punish.
To pursue.

This Book isn’t a rulebook.
It’s a rescue story.
It’s not about man reaching up—
It’s about God coming down.
Relentlessly.
Lovingly.

I see a Shepherd who leaves the 99.
A Father who runs before the apology.
A King who trades His crown for thorns.

And suddenly, I don’t read to measure up—
I read to remember who He is.

Because the gospel isn’t:
“Try harder.”
It’s: He moved first.

It’s not:
“Earn your place.”
It’s: Come home.

Now, I check my lens.
Am I bracing for judgment
or resting in grace?
Reading defensively
or receiving deeply?

Because if love isn’t shaping the way I read,
I’m not seeing clearly.

The Word became flesh,
not a checklist.

Jesus is the lens—
and when I look through Him,
I see a God who is
better than I thought,
closer than I imagined,
and more beautiful than I ever believed.