An inaccurate view of God is similar to a faulty foundation, you need the correct facts, you need the truth. In this case, its the truth about God and His relationship to you. Your thoughts on how God perceives you are huge in how they effect your daily walk with Him.

  For as he thinks within himself, so he is. - Prov. 23:7a

  This means if you believe God is angry at you, then you will walk as if that's the case. Or if you feel condemned you will lack confidence in coming before the throne of God. (1 John 3:21).

 At conversion into life with God we may feel accepted, but what about as time goes on, as we learn the "right" and "wrong" things of being a Christian; as we're taught what is pleasing and what is an abomination to God. You see with God, we read verses like Matthew 5:48 that says "Therefore, you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." At first this told me that I needed to try harder, because just as my parents did, God demands perfection. The problem didn't lie in His demand, but rather my shortcomings. This may surprise you, but I've never been perfect, and in light of this verse I constantly felt disapproval and condemnation from God. This was an absurd, inaccurate view of God, for His Word tells me a much different story.

  You see I never lived up to Jesus' demands of perfection as mentioned in the verse I quoted in the above paragraph. So I always carried around feelings on inadequacy, rejection, and condemnation from Jesus. This was a heart breaking state, because no matter how much I tried, I could never live up to what was required of me...or so I thought. You see I had always read that verse above that calls for perfection as one that pointed out that I needed to try harder, but in reality Jesus was pointing out a standard set by God's holiness that was so great that I needed a solution that was found outside myself. I needed someone to do it for me. For them to meet the perfection required by God, and then trade records with me. To live a perfect life, and then trade me it's clean record for my life's record filled with inadequacy. Sound familiar? Jesus knew the demands were to great for me to achieve, for as Paul says in Galatians 2:21, "...if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly."

  "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. - Matt. 5:17

  You see, my view of God was inaccurate. I saw Jesus condemning me for not measuring up, but Jesus took care of all the measuring up I would ever need. (Col. 2:13-14). There is nothing I can add, or take away from what He's done for me, as Jesus put it when giving up His Spirit on the Cross, "It is finished" (John 19:30). Thanks to Jesus Christ, God now looks at me as His beloved (period). God looks at me like I lived the perfect life Jesus lived, He looks at me like I am His son. And so I am! It's no wonder John reiterates this point as well.

  See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. - 1 John 3:1

 This was one example, my example of how I developed my inaccurate view of God. As you can see in the example my inaccurate view was fertile soil for doubts. I doubted my salvation, I doubted God's love for me. I walked around carrying a sentence of condemnation on my head that I projected being from God when in fact it was not. For we know that Christ did not come to condemn. (See John 3:17, [below], also John 12:47).

  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. - John 3:17 (NIV)

  Knowing this, my inaccurate view of God being a taskmaster who was never pleased with me was corrected to understanding that God sees me as His beloved in whom He is well pleased. In this I found rest.

  How does all this relate to doubt? Well if a person has a view or theology of God that is not biblically accurate than when things rise up in life that don't line up with their view of God, doubt is born. Another short example may be a person who thinks that becoming a Christian means life will go smooth. They have an inaccurate view, and have not read the verse that says "In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33)

  There are many different faulty views of God. I've met different people who have a wide variety of theology. Some have put God in a box, limiting Him as not being sovereign; in their mind are things that are impossible for God to do. (counter: Matt. 19:26, Jer. 32:17, Zech. 8:6, Mark 10:27, Luke 1:37, 18:27) Others have viewed God as working only inside their understanding, so when something arises they don't understand they pass judgment that God has failed. (counter: Isa. 55:8-9, Prov. 3:5-6). Some, like me, viewed God as rigid and demanding, even sadistic, like in my above example, they view God as being a taskmaster and their faith is often driven by fear and guilt. (counter: read verses listed in my example above, also Isa. 30:18, Luke 15:11-32) Opposite of viewing God as a taskmaster are those who view God as only being "nice". They see God as being only good, loving, compassionate, they fail to see that God is also Just, and Holy. Their object of faith is a God who is not trustworthy to do the right thing. (counter: Deut. 32:4, John 5:30, Matt. 5:18-20, 1 Peter 1:16-25).

  The common solution here is to know who God is. As we've been doing so far, the best way to correct an inaccurate view of God, is to gain an accurate view of who He is. This process takes time due to several factors, but can be started right away.

  First, your view of God must be on God's reasoning, not yours. Let me explain using a known model. You say to yourself, "This is what I think love is", then your reasoning says God's love is just a bigger, more perfect model of how I love". You've taken your worldly view of love, magnified it, and projected it on God. This model could then say since I don't love thieves than God certainly doesn't love thieves. This view can lead to all sorts of unfounded thoughts and actions. This is why it's important to see what God says about Himself, then you can correct your view by His reasoning. In my case I viewed Jesus as judging me for not living up to His requirements, but what I learned from God's Word is that Jesus does not judge me, (John 3:17,12:47) and that He has satisfied His requirements of me. (Matt. 5:17, Col. 2:13-14, Rom. 8:4) So now instead of viewing myself as rejected, I have the understanding based on God's word that all that is required of me has been met, not by me, but by Jesus, therefore it's secure, and Jesus declares me "Not Guilty". (Rom. 8:1,34).

  Also note it takes time. A person may have many different avenues that influenced and gave him an incorrect view of God, some of which you may have yet to realize, or may still be under the source of those incorrect teachings. It could be your upbringing, culture, friends, books, personal experiences, and even mislead teachers themselves. A friend of mine, in reference to books based on Christianity other than the Bible, advised me to "chew up the meat, but spit out the bones".  In order to overcome these incorrect views they first must be brought to light, then they can be dealt with. Many of these may be brought up as you read the bible and get an accurate view of God. It's good to take note of how God describes Himself in both the Old and New Testaments. One recommended tool is to read your bible and jot down the different characteristics of God starting with the New Testament. 

  Similar to dealing with a faulty foundation as discussed prior it's important to learn and heed correct biblically founded views on who God is. Firstmost, read the bible throughly, and never consider yourself done. Secondly, gather information from trustworthy sources, books, church, bible studies, Christian fellowships, etc... All of which need to line up correctly with the bible. In all this pray for wisdom which God said He gives abundantly and without reproach. (Jam. 1:5). Getting to know God is one of the highest, if not the highest priveleges given to us by what Christ did on the cross. Doing so will not only help correct your erroneous views, but will bring you into a closer relationship with your Creator and Savior, who died on the cross at the hope of having a relationship with you. (Heb. 12:2)

  There can be a combination of reasons that feed a persons doubt. Some like this can be corrected with gaining accurate knowledge of who God is and what He's done. Others can remain persistant and may be rooted elsewhere and not just in faulty information or errant views of God. In cases like mine it may go beyond an inaccurate view of God to also being rooted in damaged emotions. We will discuss that and other origins in pages to come.