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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"When we rely on our own efforts to be righteous instead of allowing The Holy Spirit to convict us of our righteousness we come face to face with the feeling of condemnation. Long term condemnation is the foundation of victim thinking."
As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 58.
I have lived most of my life being guided by the principal that goes something like this, "If you want a job done well, do it yourself." Although I still feel this principal has served me well in the past, I have come to realize that it is not universally true about some of the work that I come across on a day-by-day basis.
Where this principal is especially wrong is when it comes to my identity. Forming the identity that I need and making that identity be something that lasts is simply not a job that I can do very well. I don't know of a single person in this world that is suited to do this job in a way that even comes close to something that we can describe as "well."
It isn't that we are too limited in our ability. We aren't missing some kind of education of mental prowess to make this job be all it can be in our lives. It isn't even that we aren't pure enough in our motives to make our identity a task that we can accomplish with any kind of competency. No, our shortfalls in the area of identity come with the reality that we are strangers in a strange land. That fact makes forming and maintaining our identity something the victor simply cannot do on his or her own.
Today's Bible reading shows two men, who face an identity crisis before God. One handled it a religious way while the other handled it a relational way. Can you guess who God sees as the victor here? Let's read the story now.
And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ The tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.' Luke 18:9-14 (NASB)
The Pharisee was someone who took the responsibility of identity really seriously. He studied and applied himself in ways that allowed him to rise to the tops of society at that time. Don't know you know there was a lot of pride the family of this man felt knowing their son, husband, father and/or sibling had what it took to be thought of in such regard by all in that day?
That entire last paragraph is what makes victim thinking possible when it comes to relying solely on ourselves to form and maintain an identity for ourselves. Pride, status, power, and ultimately condemnation are all the result when we think we have it all under control as far as identity is concerned. Not only are we putting ourselves in a position where we will ultimately be disappointed, it is so easy to look down on others who might not be as adept at securing identity like we think we are.
So it was for this religious leader. His position allowed him to believe that his standing was assured before God. After all, he had done it all the right way, so wouldn't God be so proud. God says in our reading today that it will be the Pharisee that will be humiliated due to the fact that he dared exalt himself based on what he had done to get to where he was in life. It is when we are successful at making an identity work for us outside the loving direction of God that pride leads to a fall that will result in the need to eat some humble pie.
It was the hated and shunned tax collector that gained an appreciation of who God is to be in his life. He came to the realization that all the work he had done to make a name for himself was for nothing when compared to the God that loved him so. He woke up to the reality that God's love trumps any position of pride that we might be able to make for ourselves. Though the tax collector couldn't even lift his eyes to God due to the guilt he felt at how short his life had fallen, Jesus make it clear that this is exactly the kind of man God loves to raise up.
It isn't that God is looking for us to feel like dirt when it comes to who we are. He just wants us to recognize the futility of thinking we can make an identity for ourselves that will last. Unfortunately, for many of us, coming to that conclusion takes a lot of hard knocks in this life. It is when we get tired of beating our head against the wall of identity and let God in, that things start to change.
I don't know about you, but I want to be exalted. I want to be lifted up. I have spent the better part of my life trying to make that happen. I have leaned heavily on the success and accomplishments I have been able to make happen to drive home for me who I am. When that didn't work, it almost killed me. Then God came rushing in.
It was when I started believing in who God says I am that this life started to make sense again. Sure I still have big dreams and still some energy to chase a few of those dreams. I now chase those dreams, not for identity driven reasons, but for reasons based more on leading and passion and calling. Are my motives completely clear? Of course not! I'm still a work in progress. It is the fact that God is working overtime to convince me of the righteousness He has placed in me that makes my identity take on a power that I could never have mustered up on my own like I tried so hard to do in the past.
Isn't it time you get out from under the dark cloud of condemnation that comes from relying on your own efforts to secure an identity? If you aren't feeling that condemnation yet, I know you will in the not too distant future. Step fully into the light of God's truth in your life. Step into the fullness of the victor God says you are. Make your accomplishments be something other than support for who you want the world to see you to be. Let the righteousness of God be seen in your life as you live as His Child today.
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