You have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves.  Instead, you received God's Spirit when he adopted you as his own children.  Now we call him, "Abba, Father." - Romans 8:15 There are two ways of relating to me.  First, you can relate to me as a slave, seeing me as a God who barks orders and threatens punishments, driving you along with a whip.  While this slavish fear may appear to produce good behavior on the surface, it will not foster a real love relationship. Instead, I want you to relate to me as my own beloved child, chosen and adopted into my family.  The Spirit of adoption has bent down and kissed your guilty heart with my love, taking away the grim, hard heart of a slave and arousing in you a glad tenderness toward me as your Father.  As your confidence in my love for you increases, you'll know that you can tell me anything and I will still love you and heal you.