Thoughts
that have come from various quotes taken from the book, "Victor - Breaking
Free From a Victim Based Society" by John H. Hovis. Click here to link directly to
the audio file.
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"Rights combined with human judgment is a powerful precursor to offense, and offense precedes victimization."
As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 200.
Don't you just hate that feeling of being offended? Offense is such a uniquely human experience. The problem is that offense ushers in victim thinking more than just about anything else in our lives.
I don't know about you but I can exhibit a wide range of emotions when I find that I have been offended. At times I'm angry, other times I become very defensive and then there are times when I can become cold and emotionally detached from the one who I believe has offended me.
All of those responses puts me, the victor, in a position where I can give up on relationships and become very isolated in my dealings with the world around me. In other words, victim thinking can take hold very quickly when offense lingers for long in my life.
Those rights I feel are due me combined with my judgment as to whether my rights are being upheld constitutes the perfect storm of offence in my life. It is so easy to misjudge and misinterpret the words and actions of others when they appear to be coming up against the perceived rights I hold so dear. I am shocked by the number of times my misjudgment of a situation has placed me into victim thinking by being offended by a situation I had misread completely in my life.
Sure, there are plenty of situations where people genuinely have it out for us and go out of their way to cause ill in our lives. Those people are perfect examples of victimizers who had been trapped in victim thinking for such long periods of time. I believe we have every right to judge whether a person is so stuck in victim thinking that victimization might be the result. We also have every right to protect ourselves against those people including choosing not to associate with them at all!
But, I have found that the vast majority of cases where I been offended rarely rise to the level that I just described above. It's in those minor cases of offense where I may have missed judge something where victim thinking can be so detrimental to me trying to live the life of the victor. Allowing offense to happen time and time again in my life makes it that much easier for me to stay in victim thinking.
Last thing I want to have happen is to be stuck in victim thinking in ways that might turn me into a victimizer to those around me. For that reason I'm doing my best to challenge offense in my life. How does one do that? I believe the only way I can challenge offense in my life is to consider my rights ad my judgment of those rights in light of the truth of the situation that offended me in the first place. I need to be willing and able to find the truth and make amends if I had misjudged a situation.
Here's what the bible says about truth,
you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. John 8:32 (GNT)
Freedom is what the victor craves! Offense robs the victor of that freedom. Our job is to do the best we can at remaining in a position where freedom can be the foundational characteristic of our lives.
What are the situations that have you offended right now? What will you do today when you were offended? The key to your freedom is to truly find the truth in those situations that have you offended. Take on today with a new attitude, an attitude based on the reality that - you will know the truth, and that truth will set you free!
**********
"Rights combined with human judgment is a powerful precursor to offense, and offense precedes victimization."
As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 200.
Don't you just hate that feeling of being offended? Offense is such a uniquely human experience. The problem is that offense ushers in victim thinking more than just about anything else in our lives.
I don't know about you but I can exhibit a wide range of emotions when I find that I have been offended. At times I'm angry, other times I become very defensive and then there are times when I can become cold and emotionally detached from the one who I believe has offended me.
All of those responses puts me, the victor, in a position where I can give up on relationships and become very isolated in my dealings with the world around me. In other words, victim thinking can take hold very quickly when offense lingers for long in my life.
Those rights I feel are due me combined with my judgment as to whether my rights are being upheld constitutes the perfect storm of offence in my life. It is so easy to misjudge and misinterpret the words and actions of others when they appear to be coming up against the perceived rights I hold so dear. I am shocked by the number of times my misjudgment of a situation has placed me into victim thinking by being offended by a situation I had misread completely in my life.
Sure, there are plenty of situations where people genuinely have it out for us and go out of their way to cause ill in our lives. Those people are perfect examples of victimizers who had been trapped in victim thinking for such long periods of time. I believe we have every right to judge whether a person is so stuck in victim thinking that victimization might be the result. We also have every right to protect ourselves against those people including choosing not to associate with them at all!
But, I have found that the vast majority of cases where I been offended rarely rise to the level that I just described above. It's in those minor cases of offense where I may have missed judge something where victim thinking can be so detrimental to me trying to live the life of the victor. Allowing offense to happen time and time again in my life makes it that much easier for me to stay in victim thinking.
Last thing I want to have happen is to be stuck in victim thinking in ways that might turn me into a victimizer to those around me. For that reason I'm doing my best to challenge offense in my life. How does one do that? I believe the only way I can challenge offense in my life is to consider my rights ad my judgment of those rights in light of the truth of the situation that offended me in the first place. I need to be willing and able to find the truth and make amends if I had misjudged a situation.
Here's what the bible says about truth,
you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. John 8:32 (GNT)
Freedom is what the victor craves! Offense robs the victor of that freedom. Our job is to do the best we can at remaining in a position where freedom can be the foundational characteristic of our lives.
What are the situations that have you offended right now? What will you do today when you were offended? The key to your freedom is to truly find the truth in those situations that have you offended. Take on today with a new attitude, an attitude based on the reality that - you will know the truth, and that truth will set you free!
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