Overcoming Victim-ism

Is it just me or is there a lack of accountability in the world today? What happened to taking personal responsibility for our actions? What happened to admitting when we are wrong? What happened to taking an honest assessment of ones actions and attitudes and owning them?

Unfortunately in today’s society I see an epidemic of refusing to own and admit to our behaviors. When one commits murder, as say the recent navy shooter, why do I hear people say “Wow, he/she must have had a difficult childhood?” Or poor guy, he suffered from depression, anxiety and after all he was in the service. Why do we need to excuse others actions? When did our parents become responsible for our actions? Parents are only responsible to teach children right from wrong in truth and love. Why is it when a person  loses their temper and flies into a rage is it all “your fault for making me mad.”

Perhaps it is simply a desire to understand why people do what they do. More likely it is a lack of personal accountability and pride at  work. When we blame other people for our actions we are basically saying a  person or situation has so much power over me that I can no longer control myself. They rule me, my attitude and my actions. When we try to excuse the behavior of others with excuses we are enabling. 
 
The problem is victim-ism destroys relationships and enables our excuse driven destructive behavior. Love demands accountability to flourish. Because God is relational and prays for unity in our relationships (see John 17) he does not excuse or endorse victim-ism. Instead he gives us an answer for it – the Cross. He calls us to repent and die to self… to take personal responsibility for our sin by confessing our part and nail it to the only power strong enough to defeat it. That is called humility - the beautiful Way of a Victor. Only then is sin covered in the blood of grace. It is in the   covering of grace that we begin the journey of growing into the people he has in mind. Daily in our attitudes and actions we are challenged to continually repeat these steps in our missteps: repent or admit our part, die to self, receive his grace and move forward in obedience to his Word and Way. In the covering of perfect love we learn to overcome our pesky, weak, fear filled flesh and quit playing the blame game.
 
May we through the Cross of Christ and in the covering of grace be people who fearlessly own our junk and courageously dump it at Jesus feet… may we courageously and in love call out victim-ism in those we love.
May we all learn the beautiful way of the Victor.   

Lie – I am a victim and can blame others for my destructive behavior. Truth – I am forgiven, free, and a victor not a victim. 

#trashingtheliesthatkeepmestuck , #navyshooter, #christianspeakers, #cjrapp, #victim, #overcomer  
 


 

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