So how do you view people? Will you think about it honestly or are you scared? Do you see them as someone that has the same feelings, needs, desires and rights as you or do you see them as an object to be tossed to the side? I am all about walking through the fire of refinement so I want to explore the ugly side first, so what does it look like to view people as objects? It is not pretty so those of you who are faint of heart might want to stop reading right here. There’s your out…otherwise take a stand and be prepared to be moved by God!
I have first-hand knowledge of viewing people as objects, always have…when I think back on my life I vividly remember how I was one of the popular girls that made fun of others, used people to get what I wanted and crafted the art of manipulation all by the ripe old age of 10, I have been a practicing user ever since. Was I just hard wired to use people? Doubt it. Did I learn it from my first family? Hardly! So why did I emotionally detach myself from others and use and manipulate people through my life? To get what I wanted, that’s why. Not what God wanted for me but what I wanted for me, it was all about me. That was my motto and I lived it out loud! It was behavior modification on steroids, I learned that it initially felt good to get what I wanted, conquer the challenges and having the tangibles boosted my pride, the rush from the power I attained and the fear I instilled in people, it was all in good fun…at least for me anyway.
That all came to a screeching halt at the age of 30, what I had created in myself and the power other people had given to me was not really what I wanted. Why at 30? Well, it was a comment from my Uncle Lester that made me realize that I was in over my head and only God could get me out. You see it was not what he said to be but what he said to my soon-to-be step mother. My mother had died from cancer 3 years earlier and my father started dating a wonderful woman. When I met her for the first time, Uncle Lester had forewarned her that if she wanted into this family she better get in good with me because I could make or break her. What a shocking thought! How did I get all this power? How could I be responsible for making or breaking my Father’s future happiness? Did my family really view me this way? Would my father actually listen to me, anyway? I am grateful for my uncle’s comment because, he was right if I had seen her as a threat I can guarantee you this daddy’s girl would have taken a stand and done everything to keep the other woman away from my family! That comment was the start of me viewing people as people. I have been a practicing people person for the last 8 years and every day I struggle with what I created my first 30 years of life. But it is the joy I have in Christ that is so much more fulfilling than what I got from using people. Now I actually see people through the eyes of God and He views them as His children not something to be disposed of or rejected.
Will you take your object glasses off today and see through the eyes of God or are you comfortable in the stronghold of objects? Only you can decide.
I hope you will join me on this journey of a practicing people person, sounds like a support group waiting to happen! Tammy