If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him! John 14:7 (NLT)
Many religions believe that when you do wrong, you pay for it. Essentially, they assume that good actions lead to good happenings and bad actions lead to bad happenings in your life.
Christians tend to get this issue confused. In the Bible, we find the law of sowing and reaping, which is very much in effect today. But some Christians assume this means God is out to get them when they do wrong.
They think that if they break one of His laws, God will look for ways to punish them. If they get into an accident or get sick, they assume that God orchestrated it to punish them for something they did.
Not only is this way of thinking Biblically inaccurate, it destroys people’s relationship with God. How can they trust someone who is so angry and vindictive? How can they grow closer and learn to open up to a God like that? Instead of growing spiritually, they begin to live in fear and they avoid God when they get off track, which only makes things worse.
It’s true that there are sometimes negative consequences to our actions, but these aren’t the acts of a vengeful God. They are just the natural result of our actions. For example, if you jump off a building and die, God isn’t responsible for your death. Gravity is.
If you want to know what God is like, just look at Jesus. You don’t find examples in the Bible of Jesus killing people when they did wrong. You don’t see Him saying, “I can’t heal you. You deserve this sickness because of all your sin.” Jesus loved people, period. And He loves you.