There's a picture of God in the world of a cosmic all powerful person saying, "love me or else". And with this image most of us go about our lives trying hard to manufacture feelings of love toward this person. The other end is that folks for whom the dissonance is to great choose not to believe in such a person. Can I really love God if he's holding a proverbial gun to my head?
The story is told that there is a teacher who tells the class to sit down. All but one comply with her demand. The teacher turns to the rebellious student and reiterates the command and the student still refuses to obey. At last the teacher storms over to the student and thrust him down angrily into his desk chair where the boy should have been seated. To which the boy exclaims, "I may be seated but I'm standing in my mind!"
Can we really love God under the threat of hell? I suggest that it may produce outward obedience but those actions will not change our hearts and that's what God really wants.
Right now through the life and person of Jesus Christ, God is trying to win us over by love... He says "I will allure you... And speak kindly to you... So that one day you will not refer to me as master but as husband."
The deep heartfelt love relationship that seeks the good of the one loved is what God wants from all of us. Lets not serve Him any longer because of the fear of hell or temporal retribution but because we see His loveliness and the sweet thing He has spoken to us in His words and we are smitten to love Him back because that is our genuine heartfelt response.
It is by love that love can be awakened... Dispel the image of the tyrant that you have in your mind and embrace the truth "God is Love".
When it's all over God wants you to choose to love Him that's the only thing in this whole universe that is yours to freely give. Would you choose to give it today?