13. Party Pooper God

Unloving God-Image: Party Pooper God

  • Description: Party Pooper God is negative, pessimistic, and hopeless about you and your life. He drops in on your party only to turn on the lights, stop the music, pop all the balloons, and send everyone home. He’s a downer, depressing, disapproving, unhelpful. He says your hopes and dreams are foolish. You’re dust and ashes. You won’t mount to anything special. 
  • Potential Reasons for this God-Image: Your parents or yourself might have suffered from depression growing up. Melancholic temperament can easily lend to this God image. As you grew up, you struggled with separation and individuation. Covid made things so much worse. Bitter and resentful. God strips away meaningful things from you. 

Unlovable Self-Image: I Don’t Have Hope (“Hopeless Hal”).

  • Description: Since Party Pooper God is negative and pessimistic, you don’t believe God has any special plan for your life. Your dreams and hopes are not important to God. Nothing will work out for you. 
  • God doesn’t care. No concern about your future. 
  • As soon as something seems to be looking good, God ruins your plans. Once you have your hopes up, God ruins your plans. 
  • You have the wound of hopelessness. You don’t feel worthy of a God-given purpose in your life – no special plans at all. Why is life so hard? Why are my plans ruined? You feel dumped on. Disconnected from God. Low motivation. Low levels of hope. Fear of future disappointment. Nothing will work out anyway. 
  • Scripture Passage: “Man goes about as a mere phantom; they hurry about, though in vain; he heaps up stores without knowing for whom. And now, LORD, for what do I wait? You are my only hope. From all my sins deliver me; let me not be the taunt of fools. I am silent and do not open my mouth because you are the one who did this. Take your plague away from me; I am ravaged by the touch of your hand. You chastise man with rebukes for sin; like a moth you consume his treasures. Every man is but a breath.” (Psalm 39:7-12)

Loving God-Image: Accepting God (“Hall of Fame Coach”) 

  • Description: God accepts me regardless of my performance; He is considerate and understanding of my struggles; He isn’t harsh or overly demanding, but is flexible. He’s the best coach ever. Jesus is my personal trainer / teammate. God loves having me on His team. He chose me. He knows my unique skill set. He helps me out for playing my best. He’s the coach everyone wants to play for!
  • Scripture Passage: Jesus calls Peter after his rejection (to heal wounds of shame & fear). 

Lovable Self-Image: I’m acceptable.

  • Description: I’m worth being accepted by God even if I’m not a success; I don’t have to earn God’s love or make up for my mistakes; God helps me to achieve success. 
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