Does God want to punish me?
"[God] is patient with you. He doesn't want anyone to be destroyed. Instead, he wants all people to turn away from their sins" (2 Peter 3:9b).
"But here is how God has shown his love for us. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. The blood of Christ has made us right with God" (Romans 5:8–9a).
God wants you to turn from your sin so you won't have to be punished.A judge may not want to send a criminal to jail. But he's only a good judge if he punishes lawbreakers. In the same way, God is love, but He is also just and holy. He must punish sin. Each of us has broken at least one of God's laws against lying, stealing, dishonoring parents, saying God's name as a bad word, or loving anything more than God.
The punishment for sin is death—to be separated from God in hell. Even though we're sinners, God loves us so much that He sent His Son to take our punishment. Jesus died on the cross so those who trust Him can love Him, obey Him, and live with Him in heaven. God doesn't want us to die as sinners, but people who don't turn from sin and believe in Jesus must be punished.
