And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations. (Exodus 3:14-15)
Thinking the right thoughts about God cannot be overestimated. There is scarcely any error in historical Biblical doctrine or failure in Christian practice that is not traceable back to imperfect, incorrect, and unworthy thoughts about God. All of our correct and righteous actions result from Godly thoughts about Him, and almost all of our wrong actions are rooted in imperfect thoughts about God.
When Isaiah saw God, he also saw himself as the true sinful man that he was. These proper thoughts about God led to a true revelation of himself, which in turn lead to right actions in the sight of God.
Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. (Isaiah 6:5)
Wrong thoughts about the nature of God invariably lead to wrong actions. I would go so far as to say that the presence of wrong thoughts about God is actually idolatry, for wrong thoughts about God are slanderous to His character. When you entertain wrong thoughts about God, you are attributing to the Lord something that is not true of Him. You are then making up a new god and are essentially creating an idol for yourself. Doing this turns God into something He is not.
Unbelief leads to wrong thoughts about God. The worship that stems from unbelief is actually the worship of idols. These idols may not be physical objects but could be an imagination or an ideal that someone holds. Either of these is wrong. The Apostles and other New Testament writers make it very plain that anything we worship—whether material or immaterial—is our own particular idol. Unbelief leads to wrong thoughts, and wrong thoughts lead to idol worship, and idol worship ultimately leads to immorality. The Psalmist said that those who make idols are like unto the graven image they are making, so there is a harmony of character between the idol-maker and the idol itself. When the idol is an inanimate object, the individual who has fashioned the idol will naturally not have a spiritual life. There is a spiritual connection between those who make idols and the idols themselves: they will be as dead as their idol. This brings us to the question, “What is God like?”