Mama's Little Book of Reactionary Theology

Bad theology can be dangerous.  Often without realizing it, our beliefs about God and how he interacts with us shape the way we interact with each other and with our world. And everyone has beliefs about God, even if they simply believe he doesn't exist or isn't worth their time. When I was in college I realized that despite what I said, I believed in a God who was distant from his creation who only jumped in occasionally to make subtle changes or tweak things a little bit.  I have come to see God as much more concerned and involved in the little things in my life and the lives of those around me.

A lot of hurt is caused or amplified because of bad theology.  As a mother, I want to help shape my daughter's thoughts about God and herself in a way that lines up with truth. I started keeping a list of things that I want to make sure she knows.  Since most of them are reactions to bad theology that I hear around me I'm being honest about that fact in my title.

Here are some of the things on that list:
- The world doesn't revolve around you...and you wouldn't want it to. It revolves around God. 
- God doesn't necessarily work for your best or your happiness but he does care about you more than you can imagine and will use all things for your good.
- God uses bad things but does not cause them.  You can be thankful for the effects of something without being thankful for the thing itself. For example, I am not thankful for my miscarriage, but I will be forever thankful for LeYanna (who wouldn't have existed otherwise).
- Lots of times you have to touch people's hearts before they'll listen to your logic. I think God does this throughout scripture.
- Jesus wasn't always nice.  Love doesn't always mean nice.
- You did nothing to earn God's love.  If he loved you enough to save you, why would he love you less when you're struggling as a Christian?
- There are always going to be people who are better and worse, uglier and prettier than you.  That truth is okay if you don't find your value in your ranking.

As I was typing this post a student stopped by and asked me what I thought of women baptizing new believers, so I will add to the list:
- Do not let people limit what God can use you to do simply because you're a woman unless the Bible, the Holy Spirit, or wisdom are clearly telling you not to do something.

Where am I wrong?  What am I missing? How do I communicate these things to a 9 month old?