Monday, August 14, 2017

Day 47 - Victims and Victimizers

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.

**********

“Victim Syndrome can manifest itself in the thought (either perceived or real) that bad things always happen. When those feelings are left unchecked, the victims of Victim Syndrome can actually become victimizers themselves.”

As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 9.

Take a look at almost any offender in prison and you will probably find that their lives have been marked by horrible victimization in their own lives. It is a sad and dangerous fact that victims often become some of the most terrible victimizers in their own right. This is the most damaging results of victim thinking in the lives of those trying to live like victors.

It is a sad fact that the past often repeats itself, particularly when it comes to family relationships. How many of us have said, “I will never do what my parents did!” only to find us doing similar things to our own kids? It doesn’t help our cause to change when we are stuck in the real or perceived thought  that bad things will always be a part of our lives. That’s the root of Victim Syndrome and the basis for a lifetime of victim thinking.

Victors have found a way to recreate their lives from the ashes of the past. This is not an easy thing to do but it can be done. There comes a time in everyone’s life when we hit that crossroads of choice; one direction takes us deeper into victim thinking, the other to victor living. Many people are able to choose the right path on their own, but I just don’t know how they do so without God in their lives. There is a verse in the Bible that sums up God’s part of the decision we have at the crossroads of life.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)

New creation - that’s what those of us caught in victim thinking need to have happen in order for us to break out of the  cycle that often leads to greater and greater victimization in and around our lives. This verse gives me such great hope. It is Christ that makes this new creation possible. My own efforts, though necessary to live out this new creation, aren’t required for me to realize that I have the chance to live like the victor God made me to be.


If, today,  you find your life in a place where newness is simply a must lift your eyes from this earth and fix your gaze on Jesus. Let His work be what starts a flood of newness in your life. Christ didn’t suffer the results of victimization in this world to make you a victim. He died to make you a victor! That’s what you are. Start living that kind of life right now. Victors have the greatest  opportunity to choose to end the cycle of victimization that often haunts their relationships. Let today be one filled with the freedom of being a victor!

No comments:

Post a Comment

Day 365 - The Year of the Victor

Click here to link directly to the audio file. ********** 365 days done. What an amazing journey this year has been producing this podca...