Have you perhaps noticed the discrepancy between the two sayings "the shepherd and his sheep" and "the children of god"? You have probably not spended much thought on this; two expressions for the same thing; the relationship between us humans and some god.
But it isn't that simple. The sayings tell about two different things; that is, paths to possible earthly heavens or hells.
Imagine yourself; a shepherd and his sheep. What makes a virtous sheep? A virtous sheep keeps itself within its bounds until the shepherd needs its meat and skin. What kind of life does a sheep have? Pushed wherever the shepherd wants it, never knowing when it goes to far and risks getting beated with the shepherd's staff or pinched by the shepherd's dog. It's a hard life and the only comfort to be found besides the proximity of equals is the notion that the shepherd guards the flock from wolves and similar things, guards it so well that no one ever has even seen a wolf.
The future holds a promise of change; the end of a hard and painful life and a rebirth as a soft, clean fur and meat feeding and warming the shepherd. As a sheep one can look forward to one day become one with one's shepherd, one's god in a way of speaking.
The second saying; "the children of god" points at a different way of looking at things. Good parents gladly help their children evolve and see it as a success when their children one day pass them on the way of life. This is the sound evolution; the children are allowed to get further on the path of life than their parents, which honour them. There is also a time limit in the relationship to parents; Sooner or later are the children mature enough to walk by themselves, the parents release them and the world opens up for the new adults.
To people who has a god that looks at his or her creations from a parent's perspective the world is open. These humans aren't bound to any flock and find their own way through existence, haven't made up any limitations and find that only heaven and above is the limit.
Do I make myself clear with this? That it really isn't necessary to believe in some god in order to make this relevant for you? That this basically is about humans and not mythological beings?

Look out for shepherd people! Those who wish to collect you all under their will and power. For them your value lie in being slaves and slaughter cattle. Sect leaders, politicians, bullys etc. The future you can look forward to under their protection is doom, in spirit or body; there is no coincidence that sects spread rumours of one world disaster after another, maybe even tries to accomplish one; they are merely suffering slaughter animals who are longing for release.
Father and mothers don't hold frantically on to those under their protection. They can be actual parents, they can be teachers who has this as a calling, they can be anyone who doesn't demand absolute obedience, duties and oaths.The role models that let you go.
One problem is that many shepherds call themselves fathers and many fathers calls themselves shepherds and that the truth lies beyond these words; that members of a sect who call themselves "children of god" hardly is anything else than "the sheep of god" and that a tyrannical father hardly is anything else than a shepherd kind of guy.
But I think you'll spot the difference if you keep your eyes open.
I'm hardly the first one to point out the difference between the flock and the child, but apparently it's something that must be said over and over again.

AVATARA 1996, Painting on wood. Size: 122 * 122 cm (48 * 48 Inches)
A huge white horse, approximately 10 meters tall, tears evil humans apart in a desolated landscape. In the foreground there is some vegetation, mostly wormwood.