Victims see only themselves; victors see beyond themselves. Victims are destroyed by the circumstances; victors overcome the circumstances. The story is always bigger than the moment, and we are part of the story. God is at work in whatever trouble comes our way, even if that trouble involves the evil of others.

Bad things happen to everyone. Awful thing happens to some. Sin knows no limits. Everyone (at some level) is a victim and a victimizer. We’ve all sinned against others, and we’ve all been sinned against by others. While everyone is a genuine victim of something, our analysis may not stop there. What comes next makes all the difference. The response of a victim matters.

First, there are those who feed and nurture their victimization. This ranges from those who have felt some slight offense and who then have the ability to nurture that offense into a permanent status to those who have been seriously assaulted, offended, and injured. Being a victim is who they are; it’s part of their identity. They cultivate a taste for bitterness or revenge. It also becomes a way of drawing attention to themselves and a means of excusing all kinds of bad behavior of their own (e.g., anger, addiction, irresponsibility, etc.). It’s a sinful response to having been sinned against. The temptation to be a permanent victim is so strong for some that we even see people who will fabricate or exaggerate stories to support their victimhood. Everything that they do wrong is rooted in and excused by what someone else has done to them. Adam got the victim ball rolling when he told God: “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate” (Gen. 3:12). In other words, Adam wouldn’t have sinned if God hadn’t given him that woman. Adam was a victim, and God was the victimizer.

Second, there are those who have been victimized i.e., sinned against—some in a most grievous manner—who have a different kind of response. They become victors over the sins committed against them. They might confront the sin, cover the sin, cast their care upon God, turn the other cheek, bless those that curse them, pray, pity, learn, and even rejoice. Godly responses to ungodly behavior always produce better results. Sin kills, and “The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 15:56-57).

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