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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"I have made serious and significant mistakes and will continue to do so in the future. God’s love, however, overcomes those mistakes; His love is so much bigger than the screw-ups I might make in His Name."
As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 29.
The pastor at my church has a saying. It goes something like this, "No perfect people allowed!" I love this motto. Why? Because it gives me hope. I'm a piece of work! So are you. But the beautiful thing is we are all God's piece of work.
The victor's life isn't exemplified by the absence of mistakes. It's the realization that our mistakes have nothing to do with who we are, and with who God is in our lives that make victor living possible. Our relationship with God doesn't depend on how well we complete the tasks that we are given. Our relationship depends on us believing who He says we are and working to live that out in as many of life's circumstances as we can.
Victim thinking abounds when we believe that perfectionism is what we must achieve. Victim thinkers believe that their relationship with God improves as their ability to do the things He asked them to do increases. Victim thinking results when we believe that our value depends on the results of our efforts. A results based life will always lead us to victim thinking tendencies. As I have said over and over again, stay stuck in victim thinking long enough and you too will be come a victimizer to those around you.
Today’s Bible reading has a lot to say about the perils of perfectionism.
“Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: `Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!’? These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.” Colossians 2:20-23 (NIV)
I believe God is a “no perfect person allowed” kind of Father. He knows that we will miss the mark. If perfectionism is what He intended, Jesus’ sacrifice wouldn’t have been needed. In fact, if we were perfect, why would we need God at all? I heard someone say, "Thank God for the sin in my life. Without it I would never have learned the amazing power of grace." Perfect people don't have sin in their lives. I haven't met one of those kinds of people yet. Isn't it time we all give in to the need for God's grace and give up on trying to be something God died to make available to us as a gift?
Victors know that rules, in their own right, can’t do what is required to make victor living a possibility. Of course we need rules to keep society from operating in chaos but keeping rules will never make us victors. Banking on rules for victor living is a victim thinker’s paradise. Worse than that, rules based on human reasoning lack any value at all, according to today’s reading. Rules that are used to help support a self imposed identity are filled with false humility, appear to have wisdom, make it possible for us to treat ourselves and others harshly, and are destined to perish with use.
Why does today's reading predict that rules based on results have such detestable results and a definite fate? I believe it is because God hates anything that takes away from the identity He established by which we will most completely flourish. That’s the identity of His Child. You are a victor because you are His Child, not because you are an outstanding keeper of rules and regulations.
Victor living is all about God’s view of us, not our view of how well we are at trying to be like Him. Perfectionism just isn’t in the cards for us on this side of Heaven. Victors mess up just as much as victim thinkers. God doesn’t seem to mind this fact, why should you?
Today, live a “No Perfect People Allowed” kind of life. This doesn’t give you a license to disregard the rules that govern our society and point the direction for our moral compass. A “No Perfect People Allowed” kind of life is what brings freedom to the victor. This freedom comes from knowing that our identity and future is secured through the completed work of Jesus Christ, not the results of how few mistakes we might make. Victors aren’t victors because they are perfect. They are made victors by the loving actions of a perfect God. Relish in that kind of freedom today as you live out your victor’s life.
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