**********
"Victors are nothing more than past victims who have found sanity. Humility that leads to contentment and earnestly seeking God turns the tide of insanity."
As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 118.
I use to find it very insulting if someone called me crazy. I think that it bothered me so because I happened to believe that sanity was the norm. Anything that challenged that norm offend me quite deeply. I now realize that sanity is really the exception - insanity is the norm in this crazy world. I'm proud to say I am just as insane as the next person.
I'm in no way making fun of mental illness with this discussion. The kind of crazy I'm talking about is an insanity that comes from doing things that just don't make sense in the big picture of how God sees our life. It's like the story of the person who walks down the street and falls in the same hole day after day. Instead of changing routs so he doesn't fall in that hole he keeps going the same direction and is surprised when he finds himself stuck in that hole all over again. Doing the same thing expecting different results is the kind of insanity that I want to touch on in today's presentation.
I hope talking about the fact that I see us all as a bit insane at times doesn't offend you. Look, we live in a crazy place with crazy making rules and expectations. Those rules and expectations are what can end up getting us all in places where our pride is there ready to make us do things that really aren't that productive in the long run. When our pride gets hold of our actions, insanity threatens to be the norm.
It is the pride of the victim thinker that makes it possible for trouble to start. When we want so desperately to be something that this world views as acceptable that our pride works overtime to get us to places where we feel we are OK in the eyes of those around us. Pride is just as bad at promoting identity as is the strategy of using the world for confirmation of our identity. When we rely on pride to help us figure out and establish who we are is when the problems that can make it feel as though we are going totally insane tend to arise.
Take a look at today's Bible reading with regards to the negative power of pride in our lives.
Where there is strife, there is pride, but wisdom is found in those who take advice. Proverbs 13:10 (NIV)
It is when we are caught in the rat race of this life that crazy can rule the day. That crazy can easily be defined as strive. Victim thinking is a place where the kind of insanity I'm talking about can really be seen. The more the victim thinker works to get this world to confirm their identity, the more they are like that guy falling in the hole on that well worn route he just can't seem to change.
So, what's the answer to ending this strife? It's time for some wisdom. That wisdom comes from listening to and putting into practice advice. Here it is. If you keep falling into the same hole time and time again, change your route! In other words, stop using the world to help you define and confirm who you are. Listen to the God that made you. You are His Child and that makes you a victor.
Victors aren't immune to the issues of pride sneaking up in their lives. They just seem to be able to recognize when they are going down the same path all over again and are willing to STOP and CHANGE. What makes them able to stop and change is something called humility.
Interesting thing is that I don't think humility is the opposite of pride. Where pride is the ability to think more highly of ourselves then we should, humility isn't the opposite. If that were the case, humility would be thinking less of ourselves. That's still pride, in a perverse way, because WE are still the focus.
I believe the kind of humility that really brings us to sanity is one that lets us not have any opinion of ourselves at all. In other words, humility that really makes a difference is something that gets us to a place where we are so comfortable with who we are we don't even have to give identity a second thought. Truth is, that kind of humility is something that takes a lifetime to cultivate in our lives.
The only way to get to that place where sanity can rule in our lives is to grab onto an identity that doesn't require us to work at proving or supporting that identity. The only identity I know of that fits that bill is that given to me by God. I can do nothing to earn the identity of Child of God and also can't do anything more to earn more of that identity. Child of God gives me a chance to practice humility when I choose to live in that place where I don't have to give a second thought to that identity.
Today can be one of the most sane days of your life. It will come the more and more you believe you are who God says you are and allow the things you do today take on a different meaning other than being connected to your identity. Live the life of a victor God has made for you today. Live freely as His Child and let sanity be what sets you apart as you take on your day today.
No comments:
Post a Comment