Every year I discover how very different God is than I thought growing up, different in the best ways. Each year I learn new aspects to his gracious self that I had misunderstood from my upbringing. I thought I would begin a random list of those grace-transforming views. Feel free to add your own discoveries in the comments!
1) I thought God wanted to “use” me. In fact, I begged him to use me. I felt he valued me commensurate with how much I accomplished for him. I wanted to be one of his heroes. I found that God instead wants to love me… extravagantly. I am not a tool for his love, I am the object of his love.
2) Similarly, I thought God’s goal on earth was his “mission” that he wanted me to focus all my energy away from myself and towards his mission only to discover that God’s mission is me. His end goal is an ever deepening relationship with me. I am not a means to an end, but I am the end in myself and in my relationships.
3) I thought God’s will was opposed to my will, that my will was selfish and I was called to reject my own desires and ignore my own feelings in order to meet his plan for me, only to discover that God’s whole heart was in fulfilling my heart’s deepest desires, and he was fully attuned and validating of my feelings.
4) I thought God directed my life by telling me what to do, and I was to do it. If I was confused or unsure, it was my fault for not listening better, and I should fast and pray until I got “guidance.” I’ve discovered that God cares way more about being with me whatever direction I take. He’s not worried about my taking the “wrong” direction, that there really is no wrong direction (even the harmful is redemptive), and just being with him in my genuine self is life’s fulfillment.
5) I thought shame was God’s way of prodding me to do better, the “conviction of the Holy Spirit” was to push me to better myself, get on the right track. Shame was pressure to bring compliance since I would stop feeling shame if I just worked harder at being good. I see now that such a mindset cripples grace. Shame, like physical pain, is a cry not to work harder but to rest and restore. Something has gone wrong, and what has slipped is not my behavior, but my grasp of God’s love. I believe shame is God’s invitation to stop trying to earn his love and to simply rest in it as an accomplished, unalterable fact. True goodness springs from being loved, not from being shamed.
Janathan Grace Reflections 
Janathan, I am so deeply blessed with your writings filled with the love and wonder of God’s presence with us. As I read this one the verse ran through my mind: “You will make known to me the way of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.” I seem to be traveling the same journey in my own life; learning to hear His voice of love and encouragement, to see his smile, to hear him chuckle and say “quit trying so hard, relax in my love for you, I am an endless ocean of pure love, I’ve got this, I’ve got you, rest in my embrace, breathe”