?I was brought up in family where God was portrayed as judgmental and punishing. I can't even hear the word ?God? without feeling anxious. How am I supposed to open to God when I believe that God is controlling??

?How can I believe in God when there are so many bad things that happen to people? If there really is a God, then why does He let these things happen??

?God as a man just does not work for me. The men in my life have been mostly angry and controlling. I don't feel safe opening to a male god.?

These are a few of the many comments I hear from my clients as I work with helping them open to a personal source of spiritual guidance.

The New Testament is very clear regarding what God is:

John 4:24

?God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.?

1 John 4:8

He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.?

1 John 4:16

?God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

John tells us that ?God is Spirit? and ?God is love.? He tells us that when we are being loving, we are within God and God is within us.

My personal experience is that God is love, peace, joy, and truth, and that God is everywhere, both within us and all around us. When our hearts are open to love, compassion and kindness toward ourselves and others, we experience the fullness of God within us and the safety of being within God.

My experience is that God is always here guiding us toward our highest good. One of the ways I help my clients to access the wisdom that God has for us each and every moment is to imagine a spiritual being that is here just for you. This can be a Teacher, a mentor, a guardian angel, a beloved relative who has passed away, or the highest, wisest part of yourself ? your own higher self. By opening to learning with a wise and loving being who wants nothing more than to guide you toward your joy and the full manifestation of yourself, you open to being guided by the love and wisdom of God.

This guidance is your birthright. We were not dumped alone on the planet to fend for ourselves. Yet you will not have an experience of this love and guidance until you open to learning from God. My clients who practice opening to learning with a spiritual source of love and wisdom discover for themselves the truth of God. They are no longer caught in beliefs that do not served them ? that God is judgmental, controlling and punishing; that God does not exist; that God will never be there for them personally; that they have to earn God's love; that God can stop people from harming each other.

You will know God when you open your heart to learning about loving actions toward yourself and others. When your primary intention is to learn about how to love yourself and others, rather than to keep on trying to get love or avoid pain, you will have a personal experience of God.

If the term ?God? is a negative trigger for you, then change it to Spirit, or Higher Power, or whatever works for you. God is not a being who cares about a name. God is the ever-present experience of love, compassion, truth, peace and joy that is always available for you whenever you choose to open your heart.