Day 77 - Feeling Stupid vs Being Stupid

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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“Feeling stupid isn’t necessarily a bad thing. What is bad is if we believe we are stupid.”

As quoted from the book “Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society” by John H. Hovis Page 12.

There is a big difference between feeling something and believing that you are that same thing. Sometimes feeling like something negative is a great motivator to do the work required to move out of that place so that we don’t have to feel that negative feeling again. Problem is that, often times, victim thinkers take on the identity of that feeling. This is what allows victim thinkers to stay in the holding pattern of life. Identity is what makes or breaks a victor.

Victors know that they aren’t stupid. Yes victors will do countless stupid things in their lives. Sometimes they will do the same stupid thing over and over again. What sets the victor apart is their willingness to be open to change. They are willing to look at themselves as the cause of their stupid actions and find it in themselves to reach out and make changes that can change their ways. Victors aren’t satisfied with; “This is just how I am…” They know that their identity is much more than what they do. Victors have chosen to let their identity be formed by things eternal, not by the temporal things they are a part of on this side of Heaven.

Today’s verse points out how to live like a victor. It says;

“So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective.” Colossians 3:1-2 (The Message)

If you are serious about living like a victor, act like a victor. What does that look like? It requires a shift in perspective from the things going on around you to a gaze toward heaven. The Message says that your upwards gaze is “where the actions is.”

Though you may do some stupid things today, Christ didn’t die to make any part of your identity to do anything with stupidity. In the middle of the realization that you just did something stupid, do something radical - own up to it and make amends where needed. But, don’t stop there. After you own up to doing something stupid and repaired any relational damage that might have occurred, then act like a victor and claim your rightful place Christ bought for you with His life. You are God’s Child and that is what makes you a victor.

God doesn’t expect you to be perfect today. He does wants you to realize who you are in His eyes and to value the place God wants in your life for all it is suppose to be. Today you have a chance to live the life of a victor by shifting your gaze. If you focus on the things you do today to bolster your identity, victim thinking will be the result. If, however, you choose to fix your gaze on Him, victor living is not only possible, it is guaranteed no matter how many stupid things you do today.