--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Left to ourselves we turn God into an…" description: "\"“Left to ourselves we turn God into an object, something we can deal with, some thing we can use to our benefit, whether that thing is a feeling or an ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41e/eugene-h-peterson-1745_thing_left-to-ourselves-we-turn-god-into-an-ob_758610.png" --- # Left to ourselves we turn God into an object, something we… ![“Left to ourselves we turn God into an object, something we can deal with, some thing we can use to our benefit, whether that thing is a feeling or an idea or an image.” quote by Eugene H. Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41e/eugene-h-peterson-1745_thing_left-to-ourselves-we-turn-god-into-an-ob_758610.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41e/eugene-h-peterson-1745_thing_left-to-ourselves-we-turn-god-into-an-ob_758610.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41e/eugene-h-peterson-1745_thing_left-to-ourselves-we-turn-god-into-an-ob_758610.png) > ““Left to ourselves we turn God into an object, something we can deal with, some thing we can use to our benefit, whether that thing is a feeling or an idea or an image.”” [Eugene H. Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-h-peterson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human tendency to objectify the divine reduces spiritual depth, turning God into a tool or feeling. **In simple terms:** Treating God as an object limits true faith. Key Takeaway Recognize God beyond utility. Themes spirituality theology objectification Mood contemplative serious Type theological philosophical When to use this quote - personal prayer - church teaching - interfaith dialogue Key Concepts anthropology psychology religious experience Questions to Reflect On - How does seeing God as a tool affect your worship? - Can you experience God beyond feelings? A Different Perspective Reduces God to a personal resource, ignoring transcendence. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Feeling Idea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feeling-idea-795681/) [God Object](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god-object-1145227/) [Thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thing/) [Thing Feeling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thing-feeling-544908/) [Turn God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/turn-god/) ## Related quotes > [Every action is an idea before it is an action, and perhaps a feeling before it is an idea, and every idea rests upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/every-action-is-an-idea-before-it-is-an-action-and-perhaps-a-feeling/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [Today, I defined 'sentimental' to myself as a feeling about the idea of a feeling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-heti/today-i-defined-sentimental-to-myself-as-a-feeling-about-the-idea-of/) [Sheila Heti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-heti/) > [“God so understood is not something posed over against the universe, in addition to it, nor is he the universe itself. He is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bentley-hart/god-so-understood-is-not-something-posed-over-against-the-universe-in/) [David Bentley Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bentley-hart/) > [When I am finishing a picture, I hold some God-made object up to it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-chagall/when-i-am-finishing-a-picture-i-hold-some-god-made-object-up-to-it/) [Marc Chagall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-chagall/) > [If you wish to behold God, you may see Him in every object around; search in your breast, and you will find Him there.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pietro-metastasio/if-you-wish-to-behold-god-you-may-see-him-in-every-object-around/) [Pietro Metastasio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pietro-metastasio/) > [We must love our neighbor as being made in the image of God and as an object of His love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-de-paul/we-must-love-our-neighbor-as-being-made-in-the-image-of-god-and-as-an/) [Vincent de Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-de-paul/) > [God should be the object of all our desires, the end of all our actions, the principle of all our affections, and the governing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baptiste-massillon/god-should-be-the-object-of-all-our-desires-the-end-of-all-our/) [Jean Baptiste Massillon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baptiste-massillon/) > [“God as an object of thought … is always a remote being; the relation … is an abstract one, … So long as we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-feuerbach/god-as-an-object-of-thought-is-always-a-remote-being-the-relation-is/) [Ludwig Feuerbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-feuerbach/) > [As a man is, so is his God; therefore God was so often an object of mockery. \[Ger., Wie einer ist, so ist sein…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/as-a-man-is-so-is-his-god-therefore-god-was-so-often-an-object-of/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [“People are most similar to God when he is the object of their affection. People should delight in God, as he does in himself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-t-welch/people-are-most-similar-to-god-when-he-is-the-object-of-their/) [Edward t. Welch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-t-welch/) > [God cannot be an object. It is deepest depth of your own being. How can you see it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/god-cannot-be-an-object-it-is-deepest-depth-of-your-own-being-how-can/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [“To speak of “God” properly, then—to use the word in a sense consonant with the teachings of orthodox Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Sikhism, Hinduism, Bahá’í,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bentley-hart/to-speak-of-god-properly-then-to-use-the-word-in-a-sense-consonant/) [David Bentley Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bentley-hart/) > [I hear and behold God in every object, yet understand God not in the least.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/i-hear-and-behold-god-in-every-object-yet-understand-god-not-in-the/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [Drop the mind and the divine. God is not an object, it is a merger. 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