People Mistakenly Misrepresent God

I was having a conversation with a Pastor and he asked me something's about my growing up and how my guardians (Grandparents) taught me about the Lord. I explained to him that my grandparents, in their ignorance, misrepresented things of God. Some things that I was told about God I later found out weren't quite true. As a young child I was in ways afraid of God but not in reverence or respect but literal fear like you'd fear a monster or ghost. The bible teaches that "God has not given us the spirit of fear but, power, love, and a sound mind." He told me that by teaching me the ways of God my grandparents did me a favor, never mind the fact that I really didn't understand Gods love by their teaching. Needless to say I was so taken a back and disgusted by what this preacher was saying because of my experience and how a lot of inner healing took place when I decided to learn from God for myself. I gained a totally different perspective of God. I was also told that some need to be scared into salvation. For an ignorant child, scaring someone into salvation is already the false view of the gospel. If I were committing crimes in the street and searing my own conscience then yes, I need to be saved with fear. If, I'm a 7 year old child with minimal understanding I should be sat down and explained the Gospel of Christ. People mistakenly misrepresent God for a few reasons one of them is that they do not understand his love or their value. God is love and when we're headed down a dangerous path He warns us but He also lets us know of His love and that he wants us to be in unity with Him. We're His children, and what loving Father doesn't want unity with his kids?



I'll add more to this in a few days but first I'd like to ask; has God ever been misrepresented to you? In what way and how did regain true revelation of His nature?