Freedom from People Bondage

You have to go to school, work, or even church again and you’re dreading it! Not because you don’t like the work you do there or the sermons you hear, but you can’t stand it because of the people! The people are literally the worse thing about these places and what’s worse is you’re one of the ‘super’ Christians that are there. People know you’re a strong believer! The truth is, you’re feeling isolated in your faith walk and your now experiencing what all believers experience at one point or the other. You’re experiencing being hated on for following Christ or maybe you’re just dealing with people who just don’t seem to like you because you are you. Well, friend, it’s time to let this people bondage go because it’s pretty much impossible to walk with God and value the opinions of man more than His opinion.

“For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

Galatians 1:10(ESV)

Most people deal with bullying or people who choose to not like them at one point or the other in their lives. My personal experience with bullying or people not liking me was pretty much just dealing with people who chose to just not like me just because I was being me. When I was younger, I didn’t always understand the bullying, but I never really let it bother me. I was a really smart kid. So smart, I tended to stay in accelerated classes and was often surrounded by people who were not like me—white people to be more explicit. When you’re different, you tend to be the object of curiosity, admiration, or ridicule.

Most kids were just curious, but I did experience hate and even racism from some of my peers as I grew up, but due to my high level of confidence when I was younger I was able to be accepted by most of my peers despite my differences. Even among my black friends, I was quite the commodity, because I was the crazy Christian girl who carried her bible around school. Now, whether or not I understood everything in it at the time, is neither here nor there, but non-the-less I tried to be the best example for God I could be back then with the little knowledge I did have. My mantra in my youth was Romans 12:2: “Be not conformed unto this world” and I took it very literally. The fact that I was unashamed of Christ at a young age was weird and I was so ‘old school’ to most kids because I literally took what I did know of the Bible seriously.

I was talked about every now and again, but thankfully not frequently. I remember the worse case was when one guy was so mad that I wouldn’t give him the time of day that he sat with his ‘friends’ and would talk about how ‘ugly’ I was everyday. At the time, I did not understand that this guy liked me. It really made me upset, because I didn’t have many people who had complimented my beauty at that age, so I started to wonder if what he was saying was true. I wasn’t really the person who focused on people’s outward appearances like that too much. I actually used to spend little to no time focusing on my outward appearance( I didn’t even care about my outward appearance until God told me I was a wife and that I had to wash my face and actually try look nice for a man….lol xD).

Usually I would shrug people’s comments off, but during this time of bullying I was isolated and stripped by God of all my friendships. What I didn’t realize, was that God saw that my friends were a major part of my identity. In fact, a lot of worldly things were a major part of what I considered my identity, but in God’s eyes those things were not supposed to be my core.  My core identity was supposed to be rooted in Christ, but I wasn’t allowing that to happen in my youth. My identity was in everything else but God. This is why when I slowly started being stripped of things that were what I thought made me me, I found myself often feeling lost and trying to shield what was left of my identity from other people. When you don’t know who you are, you tend to let other people identify and label who you are, not realizing that their opinions of you weigh far less than Christ’s.

Look, I know you think if you lose weight, gain weight, wear more make up, or wear the coolest looking clothes that people will stop picking on you, but you’ve got to realize that sometimes people just decide to not like you just because you’re different. You’re not meant to be like those other people. God has called you to greater things and although you might want to desperately fit in with those people who chose to not like you just because you are you, you need to know that they are not worth your time. In fact, the people who once rejected you will sometimes be the people who not only rely on you, but will look up to you, admire you, and want to be your friends later on in life if you learn to walk confidently in who God made you to be. Their opinions of you will no longer matter to you once you move onto other things in life anyway. If they cannot respect or value who you are now; they will not learn to respect or value it by you constantly clinging to their opinions and to them like a lost puppy. Some people cannot see your worth and value until you start valuing yourself first and some people will see your worth and value and downplay what God has given you due to jealousy or their own insecurities. These people are not worth your time or effort and will rip you away from who God called you to be.

“I shall give thanks to You, for You have answered me, and You have become my salvation. The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief corner stone. This is the LORD’S doing; It is marvelous in our eyes.”

Psalm 118:21-23(NASB)

Realize that your identity and worth is not found in other people’s opinions of you. It’s not found in the coolest clothes, the best hair, or the perfect figure. Your identity is found in Christ and Christ alone. If you struggle with always worrying about other people’s opinions of you, you will find out that you have difficulty being yourself. You will find that you are losing yourself and who God called you to be in hopes of impressing people who don’t even really care about you. Stop leaning on the opinions of people who do not care about you and start listening to what God has to say! Yes, you might have to work with some of these people, you might have to go to school or work and see them everyday, but God’s opinions far outweigh the opinions of man! If you’re really struggling with believing that quote this scripture to yourself daily until your faith in this Word grows! You are not what other people say you are you are what God says you are! You are fearfully and wonderfully made! You reign with Christ! And you are worth dying for in God’s eyes!

“Don’t put your trust in mere humans. They are as frail as breath. What good are they?”

Isaiah 2:22(NLT)

You cannot spend your nights crying to God on why you’re not ‘good’ enough to groups of people who won’t matter in a couple of years. You can’t keep spending time wondering why you’re not being accepted by people who chose to not like you. You have so much more in you than you realize—you have Christ. People who are miserable enough to try to make other’s life miserable are not worth getting to know anyway. Keep shining your light. Keep living for God. And stay rooted in who He says you are! Pray for those people who do not accept you and wait for God to send you people who will accept you for who you are. There is a reason why they are not accepting you and perhaps it’s because God knows that they will either take advantage of something you have or that they will try to destroy what God has given you. Just continue to be who God made you to be and you will draw the souls and people who will accept, love, respect, and admire the creation God has created you to be. He will send you the right group of people who will not only get you, but will enjoy who you are.

———————————————ABOUT THE AUTHOR————————————————–

Hi, my name is Adrianna! I’m a woman who has a whole lot of faith and a whole lot of love for God’s people! Currently, I’m an Engineer student, who works as well. I love to write, I love to draw, and I love to code. So, I decided to combine all my talents into Missionary Gamer. My prayer is that these blog posts and all I do encourage and edify you in your journey with God.