Overcoming Victim Mentality
- Strength For Life
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
So far, 2026 has been a year of victims and perpetrators. The propaganda surrounding Minneapolis, ICE, and immigrants is a battle of assigning the role of villain and victim. Everyone has an opinion about whether Renée Good and Alex Pretti were victims of law enforcement violence or antagonists against the same law enforcement. When you watch the footage of the protest of Cities Church in Minneapolis, you cannot help but decide who is the victim and who is the villain. Most recently, there is controversy surrounding yet another release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. In that case, the victims and villains are extremely easy to identify, much objectively heinous harm was done, and Christians desire to see the guilty properly punished.
All those current-event situations are happening around us, but there are also instances of more personal hurt that Christians deal with every day. An unfortunate and often devastating fact of life is that people will sometimes hurt you. They may mistreat you intentionally or misunderstand you unintentionally. Our world is full of villains, and that’s why there are many victims. But even if someone legitimately hurts you deeply, you must not make that sinful hurt your personal identity and adopt a victim mindset. The victim mindset will hurt you far worse than whatever the villains in your life have done to you.
A person who tells himself that he is a victim is also a person who says “I don’t have to take responsibility for my life, and I can blame my failures on someone else." "After all," he thinks, "if so-and-so had not done this to me, I could succeed at life. If he or she had treated me differently, I would have been something great.”
Listen, I do not know what someone else did to you, or how they legitimately hurt you, but do not give THEM the power to define you. Do not allow those problems in the past determine what kind of person you will be in the future.
For example, the Book of Genesis records details of the life of Joseph. His brothers tried to kill him. They threw him into a pit, and then they sold him into slavery. Later, Joseph was imprisoned for doing right; remember, he fled the advances of Potiphar’s wife, and as a result of fleeing temptation he served many years in prison.
Joseph’s early life was shaped by his encounter with villains, but nowhere does Scripture indicate that he saw himself as a victim. Instead, the opposite is true: Joseph was a victor! He went through legitimately terrible circumstances, but nowhere does Scripture record his using those things as an excuse to fail at life. He did not let the actions of others inhibit him from doing amazing things. At the end of his life, Joseph recognized that God had taken the legitimate hurt he suffered and used it for good. “But as for you, ye thought evil against me,” he told his brothers. “But God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive” (Gen. 50:20).
In the end, Joseph is a great example of Romans 8:28, of all things working together for good to someone who loves God. The villains in Joseph’s life are all a part of his story of God’s providence and his overcoming. If Joseph did not have those villains in the beginning of his story, he would not have had such victory at the end of his story.
Joseph is a type of Christ in the Bible. Because of Christ, “we [Christians today] are more than conquerors” (Romans 8:37). Also, Jesus teaches us that “in the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer [He said]; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
If you are a believer, remember that “ye are of God, little children,” and “greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world” (I John 4:4). Christians are not victims; no matter what the villains do to us, we are victors because of Christ!
I say to you: ditch the victim mindset! Your mind is extremely powerful, and the story you tell yourself determines the person you will become. Focus your mind on the truths of Romans 8:28 and the ability of God to take what man meant for evil and turn it to good. Preach these promises to yourself. Be the victor, the overcomer, that God wants to enable you to be, and do it for His glory!
The above article was written by Pastor James C. Johnson. He is the pastor of NorthStone Baptist Church in Pensacola, Fl. To offer him your feedback, comment below or email us at strengthforlife461@gmail.com.
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