Take Off The Labels!!

I'm trying to figure out how to begin this blog because I know once I hit the publish button, there are going to be some who won't like it. But it was given to me by the Spirit of God, so I have to write it.

It seems that EVERYWHERE we look these days there are victims. Everybody wants to be a victim of something. They want to take on that label like it's some sort of badge of honor. They want to wear it proudly so they can blame someone else for their problems in life.

You may think I'm talking about one group but I'm not, I'm talking about many people. As a society, we'll grab onto any word we can that will give us cause to feel self-pity. We'll hang a sign on the front door of our lives that says "victim lives here" to allow us to blame others for the things that we are too lazy to accomplish for ourselves. We'll put on the mask of victim to elicit sympathy from others so we don't have to try to fix our own lives and messes.

I REFUSE to wear the label of victim.

I REFUSE to refer to myself as a victim of anything.

I am called that a lot by many when they speak of the things I've endured in life, but I always correct them and say that I'm no victim. I'm a SURVIVOR!!!!

I understand the meaning of the word victim and I know that it's a necessary word to use when describing one who has been the target of hurt by another. I know it's necessary to use in court to describe the person who suffered a crime at the hands of another. But today, people use it and sling it around like it's a title that holds some kind of prestige.

It's not!!

If you're using that word to describe yourself because of something terrible you suffered, then, by all means, use it to talk about the situation. But for Pete's sake, when you finish the story, turn right around in the same breath and proclaim that you are a survivor!!!!!

Don't allow yourself to stay in the place of a victim!!

You are not. You don't have to be anymore.

I am not judging anyone today. I can't. I know what it is to be victimized. I was sexually abused from the age of 8 to age 11. I was a victim of an evil man who couldn't control himself around little girls.

I was also in a domestic violence relationship for five years. I was victimized by that deranged man. But I REFUSE to be labeled a victim for the rest of my life and allow their actions to take precedence over who Christ says I am. When Jesus paid the ultimate price on the cross and shed His blood for me, you and everyone else, He declared right there that we can overcome anything that has been done to us. Revelation 12:11 says that we can overcome our enemies by the blood of Jesus and I believe that!!

Whatever has been done to you by anyone in your life was bad, I know. But you don't have to live there forever. You don't have to stay in a place of victimization by that person or group of people. You can come out of it with the help of God.

I was ostracized by a whole entire church at one time in my life because I entered into an adulterous relationship. I was banished from that church and many others around the area I was living in. I was hurt and devastated by their actions as a group of people who claimed to have the love of God in them.

I sinned, yes, I admit that, but that church should have a been a place to run back to and beg God's forgiveness and repent. But it wasn't. It instead became a place that closed its doors on me, pushing me away for being human and sinning.

For many years, I carried bitterness and hurt because of what happened. I allowed it to take root in my heart and I began to hate the ones who hurt me.

But one day, I saw it for what it was. I knew that it was Satan trying to get me to wear the label of victim that he had given me because of the actions of those who felt I was somehow beneath them. Once I realized what was going on, I took off the label, stopped feeling sorry for myself and began to pray for those who treated me badly and felt that I wasn't good enough to enter into a house of worship with them.

Today, as I sit here, I can tell you that I no longer use the word victim to describe myself by the actions of those people there. I could care less what they or anyone else thinks.

For two weeks, I've driven over four hours to go to a place where I can worship God in peace. Where I can raise my hands and thank Him for all He's done for me. I have gone to two different places where there is no judgment of my past, only freedom to worship, love, and praise my Savior.

I could sit in my room and cry about how unfairly I was treated, and although that's correct, I refuse to do it again. I won't allow those Pharisees to cause me to feel unworthy anymore. I will go where God calls me to worship, even if it's four, five, or ten hours away. I will run to Him no matter where He is. I will be like Zacchaeus who ran up a tree to see Jesus because he was too short to look through the crowd. I will be like the men who scaled the house to lower their friend through the roof to get to the One who heals. I will go to any lengths necessary to get to Him and thank Him for what He did for me.

I want to urge you to do whatever you have to do to escape the limits that others have set for you. Don't allow them to tell you that you are not good enough. Christ says you are. Don't allow others to keep you in a place of self-pity when Jesus came to set you free from all that. The bible is full of examples of self pity, but it is also full of scriptures that tell us how to escape it's stronghold on us as well.

Self-pity is a very sneaky spirit that comes in and has taken hold before you even realize it. It will whisper words in your ears that sound so good to your flesh and before long, if you're not careful, you'll start to agree with those words and move into a place of feeling victimized by someone else.

Trust me when I tell you these things because I have been through it all. I can't tell you and blog to you the things that I know nothing of. But I can tell you what I've been through and how God has brought me out of it all. And what I say to you, I've already experienced.

So my hope is to help you by using my trials and troubles. The bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 1:4, to comfort each other with the comfort that He comforted us with. That's what I'm trying to do. I'm not trying to get in anyone's business and sound bossy, but I'm trying to help you overcome the label that the enemy has put on you. You don't have to be a victim anymore.

I'm about to tell it all now. Shew, here we go.

When I was little, after my dad got killed, I felt that others around me treated me differently because of that. I was the only kid in grade school that had "dead" dad. For some reason, I was ashamed of that and I began telling other kids that he left, lol. I have no idea why that sounded any better. I felt some kind of pity from other kids and my teachers as a result of his death and I HATED it. I didn't want them to feel sorry for me. I wanted to be treated just like everyone else. So right there was the first label that the enemy tried to hang on me. Then came the sexual abuse with another label of victim. Then it was something else and something else, all my life until I had so many "victim" labels on me that it's a wonder I could stand up straight.

No wonder we go around with our heads hung down when we feel sorry for ourselves, it's all those victim signs around our necks that we're carrying.

It was NOT my goal to upset anyone today with this blog or to come across as some kind of bossy person trying to tell you what to do. But as I stated earlier, I've been through some junk and I've had that label on me and I hated it.

You don't have to be a victim and live as others say you do. You can remove it yourself. You have power over the enemy through the blood of Christ. Take it off today with God's help and live a free life in Him.

Jesus confronted the victim mentality head on when He came upon the sick man at the pool of Bethesda. He asked Him point blank if he wanted to be made whole and he came up with the excuse that he didn't have anyone to help him get in the pool. This man had been sick for many years and the label of victim to the disease had probably gotten so ingrained in him that he had just given up and became who the enemy said he was. But here comes Jesus to take the label off that day for the man. No more was there any excuse for him to lie there and do nothing. He was told to take up his bed and walk. No longer was he a victim of his illness. No longer was there any excuse to lie there and be sick. He probably had to have food brought to him and he probably had to beg for change from others as they passed. But Jesus gave him a new life.

If I had wanted to, I could have said, "Oh well, I was a victim of domestic violence, I deserve help from the government each month. I deserve an apartment, food, a check, and all my friends gathered around me to pity me each time I cry".

NO WAY!!! I won't do that. I was a victim, but I come out a survivor!!!!

Did I suffer? Yes, I did. I developed PTSD as a result of what happened to me from the time I was a child. But when I allowed God to come into my heart, He began to change me and heal me of EVERY hurt that I've suffered. He can heal you everywhere. Not just your physical body, but your mind, you heart, and your emotions as well. You can have pure happiness and peace in Him.

I won't live there in that lower mentality that Satan wants me to live in. I want to rise above his lies and soar with Jesus. I want to be free through Him and experience abundant life.

Take off the labels that the devil has given to you. You don't have to wear them. You don't have to feel sorry for yourself. Jesus paid a price for you. He says you can be free. So be free in Him. I love you all and I want to give to you what has been given to me by the Lord. Like Peter said, I can't give you silver and gold, but I can give you what I have and that is the message of Jesus Christ and what His blood can do for you.

With each blog, I try to include helpful verses at the bottom. Take a moment today to read them and see for yourself what God can do in your life.

Much love,

Christy

Helpful verses:

Revelation 12:11; Galatians 5:1; Romans 8:1; Luke 19:3; 1 Kings 21:4-16; Romans 12:3; Galatians 5:16; 1 Corinthians 1:4; John 5:1-15