How to see God as a loving father: filter feelings about God through Scripture, especially Romans 5:8 — God loved us while we were sinners.

Mike distinguishes between feelings about God that come from Scripture versus those projected from personal anxieties and insecurities. Romans 5:8 ("While we were still sinners, Christ died for us") is the key verse: if God loved us at our worst, there is no basis for fearing he stopped loving us. Mike shares personal testimony of cycling through guilt after sin until studying Ephesians 1 and the cross convinced him of God's constant love. The solution is not new-age introspection but Scripture-soaked recalibration of one's picture of God. Hebrews 4 — "come boldly to the throne of grace" — is cited as the posture available to believers.