Victim Mentality can be defined as
"It’s not my fault." Someone who acts from a place of victimhood claims things that happen to them are the fault of someone or something other than themselves. It might be the fault of their partner, family, co-worker, friend, or "the way the world is." They frequently complain about the bad things that happen in their lives. They are reluctant to take personal responsibility, asserting that the circumstances aren’t in their control.
https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/what-is-a-victim-mentality
Victim mentality can take on a whole new personification. This way of thinking is learned and not something we are born with. Victim mentality is often adopted after a past trauma to cope while gaining the benefits of sympathy from others or government.
Our environments may often influence this way of thinking, but our environment doesn't define who we are as a person. I want to share the philosophy and thinking of two great educators and scientist.
Dr. Booker Taliaferro Washington
Founder and First President of Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute
(now Tuskegee University)
Term in Office: 1881-1915
“Booker spent his first nine years as an enslaved person on the Burroughs farm, but in 1872, at age sixteen, Booker T. Washington entered Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute in Virginia. The dominant personality at the school, which had opened in 1868 under the auspices of the American Missionary Association, was the principal, Samuel Chapman Armstrong, the son of American missionaries in Hawaii.
Armstrong, who had commanded Black troops in the Civil War, believed that the progress of freedmen and their descendants depended on education of a special sort, which would be practical and utilitarian and would at the same time inculcate character and morality.
Washington purchased an abandoned 100-acre plantation on the outskirts of Tuskegee. Students built a kiln, made bricks for buildings and sold bricks to raise money. Within a few years, they built a classroom building, a dining hall, a girl’s dormitory and a chapel.
By 1888, the 540-acre Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute had an enrollment of more than 400 and offered training in such skilled trades as carpentry, cabinet-omaking, printing, shoemaking and tinsmithing. Boys also studied farming and dairying, while girls learned such domestic skills as cooking and sewing.
Through their own labor, students supplied a large part of the needs of the school. In the academic departments, Washington insisted that efforts be made to relate the subject matter to the actual experiences of the students. Strong emphasis was placed on personal hygiene, manners and character building.
Students followed a rigid schedule of study and work, arising at five in the morning and retiring at nine-thirty at night. Although Tuskegee was non-denominational, all students were required to attend chapel daily and a series of religious services on Sunday. Washington himself usually spoke to the students on Sunday evening.
Olivia Davidson, a graduate of Hampton and Framingham State Normal School in Massachusetts, became teacher and assistant principal at Tuskegee in 1881. In 1885, Washington's older brother John, also a Hampton graduate, came to Tuskegee to direct the vocational training program.
Other notable additions to the staff were acclaimed scientist Dr. George Washington Carver, who became director of the agriculture program in 1896; Emmett J. Scott, who became Washington 's private secretary in 1897; and Monroe Nathan Work, who became head of the Records and Research Department in 1908.
Think about it: we went into slavery pagans; we came out Christians. We went into slavery pieces of property; we came out American citizens. We went into slavery with chains clanking about our wrists; we came out with the American ballot in our hands.
Booker T. Washington (1972). “Papers: The Autobiographical Writings”, p.62, University of Illinois Press
https://www.tuskegee.edu/discover-tu/tu-presidents/booker-t-washington
If anyone had the right to live in victimhood, it would have been Booker T Washington but yet he had a completely different look at life.
He saw hardships within the sovereignty of God just as the Israelites were forced into slavery, then Pharaoh was forced to free the Jews, and only then were they free to move towards the promised land. Unfortunately, the Jews began to complain and grumble, even wanting to return to the slavery of Egypt. They spent 40 years wandering the wilderness as God nurtured and prepared the next generation for victory.
Booker T Washington wanted to do the same for the upcoming generation. He taught them a trades skill, morality, to work for what they wanted, the Christian faith, hygiene, manners, good character, and responsibility.
Another great man came out of American slavery and worked alongside Booker T Washington in educating the rising generation. This man was Dr. George Washington Carver who is primarily known for his experiments with the peanut.
Dr. George Washington Carver - 1943
Research Scientist Extraordinaire, Inventor, Man of Faith, Educator and Humanitarian
As a botany and agriculture teacher to the children of ex-slaves, as a former slave himself, Carver revolutionized the agriculture of the South.
God is going to reveal to us things He never revealed before if we put our hands in His. No books ever go into my laboratory. The thing I am to do and the way of doing it are revealed to me. I never have to grope for methods. The method is revealed to me the moment I am inspired to create something new. Without God to draw aside the curtain I would be helpless.
When I was young, I said to God, 'God, tell me the mystery of the universe.' But God answered, 'That knowledge is for me alone.' So I said, 'God, tell me the mystery of the peanut.' Then God said, 'Well George, that's more nearly your size.' And he told me.
Ninety-nine percent of the failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses.
George Washington Carver
https://www.tuskegee.edu/support-tu/george-washington-carver
God was the center of Carver's life, and it showed through his work the importance of his faith. He didn't believe excuses would promote success, but it is often those who keep pushing forward who experience the promises of God.
1 Corinthians 15:57 ESV
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
We were created to be victors and not the victims.
This is by no means to say that there is no legitimate victim, but to heal from being a victim or achieve the victory we are promised in life is to focus on God.
As we focus on God, we are led to the Son, and through the Son, we achieve victory.
James 1:12
English Standard Version
12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
In this life, we will have trials, tribulations, discipline, temptations, and it will often feel as if the world is against us.
It feels this way because it is fallen into this nature of decay. Sin reaps destruction, and the fall reaped decay. If we are born, we will become victims of disease, evil, decay, and death.
It is easy to combine the world's brokenness and internalize the injustices. But yet, in scripture, we have a whole different mindset and examples from Biblical characters who spent time in exile, slavery, prison, tortured, stoned, the belly of a fish, the role of a nomad, losses in battle, sickness, death, etc.
Joseph being of one example, went from favored son to an Egyptian slave, from slave to favored manager, from favored manager to prisoner, from prisoner to the 2nd highest position in the land.
But notice, even when Joseph was falsely accused of attempted rape and thrown into prison, the Lord was with Joseph, the Lord loved Joseph, and gave him favor within confinement.
Genesis 39:20-21
English Standard Version
20 And Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison. 21 But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.
Joseph could of easily and legitimately lived as the victim but living as the victim can manifest into victim mentality. He chose to instead live into the victory achieved from having the Lord in our lives.
The signs of victim mentality can be
So, in conclusion, I hope I have at least highlighted what victim mentality is and at least made the case that no matter our circumstances we can live as the victor and not the victim.
"It’s not my fault." Someone who acts from a place of victimhood claims things that happen to them are the fault of someone or something other than themselves. It might be the fault of their partner, family, co-worker, friend, or "the way the world is." They frequently complain about the bad things that happen in their lives. They are reluctant to take personal responsibility, asserting that the circumstances aren’t in their control.
https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/what-is-a-victim-mentality
Victim mentality can take on a whole new personification. This way of thinking is learned and not something we are born with. Victim mentality is often adopted after a past trauma to cope while gaining the benefits of sympathy from others or government.
Our environments may often influence this way of thinking, but our environment doesn't define who we are as a person. I want to share the philosophy and thinking of two great educators and scientist.
Dr. Booker Taliaferro Washington
Founder and First President of Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute
(now Tuskegee University)
Term in Office: 1881-1915
“Booker spent his first nine years as an enslaved person on the Burroughs farm, but in 1872, at age sixteen, Booker T. Washington entered Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute in Virginia. The dominant personality at the school, which had opened in 1868 under the auspices of the American Missionary Association, was the principal, Samuel Chapman Armstrong, the son of American missionaries in Hawaii.
Armstrong, who had commanded Black troops in the Civil War, believed that the progress of freedmen and their descendants depended on education of a special sort, which would be practical and utilitarian and would at the same time inculcate character and morality.
Washington purchased an abandoned 100-acre plantation on the outskirts of Tuskegee. Students built a kiln, made bricks for buildings and sold bricks to raise money. Within a few years, they built a classroom building, a dining hall, a girl’s dormitory and a chapel.
By 1888, the 540-acre Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute had an enrollment of more than 400 and offered training in such skilled trades as carpentry, cabinet-omaking, printing, shoemaking and tinsmithing. Boys also studied farming and dairying, while girls learned such domestic skills as cooking and sewing.
Through their own labor, students supplied a large part of the needs of the school. In the academic departments, Washington insisted that efforts be made to relate the subject matter to the actual experiences of the students. Strong emphasis was placed on personal hygiene, manners and character building.
Students followed a rigid schedule of study and work, arising at five in the morning and retiring at nine-thirty at night. Although Tuskegee was non-denominational, all students were required to attend chapel daily and a series of religious services on Sunday. Washington himself usually spoke to the students on Sunday evening.
Olivia Davidson, a graduate of Hampton and Framingham State Normal School in Massachusetts, became teacher and assistant principal at Tuskegee in 1881. In 1885, Washington's older brother John, also a Hampton graduate, came to Tuskegee to direct the vocational training program.
Other notable additions to the staff were acclaimed scientist Dr. George Washington Carver, who became director of the agriculture program in 1896; Emmett J. Scott, who became Washington 's private secretary in 1897; and Monroe Nathan Work, who became head of the Records and Research Department in 1908.
Think about it: we went into slavery pagans; we came out Christians. We went into slavery pieces of property; we came out American citizens. We went into slavery with chains clanking about our wrists; we came out with the American ballot in our hands.
Booker T. Washington (1972). “Papers: The Autobiographical Writings”, p.62, University of Illinois Press
I have begun everything with the idea that I could succeed, and I never had much patience with the multitudes of people who are always ready to explain why one cannot succeed.
Booker T. Washington, Up from Slaveryhttps://www.tuskegee.edu/discover-tu/tu-presidents/booker-t-washington
If anyone had the right to live in victimhood, it would have been Booker T Washington but yet he had a completely different look at life.
He saw hardships within the sovereignty of God just as the Israelites were forced into slavery, then Pharaoh was forced to free the Jews, and only then were they free to move towards the promised land. Unfortunately, the Jews began to complain and grumble, even wanting to return to the slavery of Egypt. They spent 40 years wandering the wilderness as God nurtured and prepared the next generation for victory.
Booker T Washington wanted to do the same for the upcoming generation. He taught them a trades skill, morality, to work for what they wanted, the Christian faith, hygiene, manners, good character, and responsibility.
Another great man came out of American slavery and worked alongside Booker T Washington in educating the rising generation. This man was Dr. George Washington Carver who is primarily known for his experiments with the peanut.
Dr. George Washington Carver - 1943
Research Scientist Extraordinaire, Inventor, Man of Faith, Educator and Humanitarian
As a botany and agriculture teacher to the children of ex-slaves, as a former slave himself, Carver revolutionized the agriculture of the South.
God is going to reveal to us things He never revealed before if we put our hands in His. No books ever go into my laboratory. The thing I am to do and the way of doing it are revealed to me. I never have to grope for methods. The method is revealed to me the moment I am inspired to create something new. Without God to draw aside the curtain I would be helpless.
When I was young, I said to God, 'God, tell me the mystery of the universe.' But God answered, 'That knowledge is for me alone.' So I said, 'God, tell me the mystery of the peanut.' Then God said, 'Well George, that's more nearly your size.' And he told me.
Ninety-nine percent of the failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses.
George Washington Carver
https://www.tuskegee.edu/support-tu/george-washington-carver
God was the center of Carver's life, and it showed through his work the importance of his faith. He didn't believe excuses would promote success, but it is often those who keep pushing forward who experience the promises of God.
1 Corinthians 15:57 ESV
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
We were created to be victors and not the victims.
This is by no means to say that there is no legitimate victim, but to heal from being a victim or achieve the victory we are promised in life is to focus on God.
As we focus on God, we are led to the Son, and through the Son, we achieve victory.
James 1:12
English Standard Version
12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
In this life, we will have trials, tribulations, discipline, temptations, and it will often feel as if the world is against us.
It feels this way because it is fallen into this nature of decay. Sin reaps destruction, and the fall reaped decay. If we are born, we will become victims of disease, evil, decay, and death.
It is easy to combine the world's brokenness and internalize the injustices. But yet, in scripture, we have a whole different mindset and examples from Biblical characters who spent time in exile, slavery, prison, tortured, stoned, the belly of a fish, the role of a nomad, losses in battle, sickness, death, etc.
Joseph being of one example, went from favored son to an Egyptian slave, from slave to favored manager, from favored manager to prisoner, from prisoner to the 2nd highest position in the land.
But notice, even when Joseph was falsely accused of attempted rape and thrown into prison, the Lord was with Joseph, the Lord loved Joseph, and gave him favor within confinement.
Genesis 39:20-21
English Standard Version
20 And Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison. 21 But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.
Joseph could of easily and legitimately lived as the victim but living as the victim can manifest into victim mentality. He chose to instead live into the victory achieved from having the Lord in our lives.
The signs of victim mentality can be
- placing blame elsewhere
- making excuses
- not taking responsibility
- reacting to most life hurdles with “It’s not my fault”
- Not seeking viable solutions to real problems
- Psychological pain or feeling powerless to change their situation
- “Everything bad happens to me.”
- “I can’t do anything about it, so why try?”
- “I deserve the bad things that happen to me.”
- “No one cares about me.”
- Lack of self confidence
- frustrated and angry with a world that seems against them
- hopeless about their circumstances never changing
- hurt when they believe loved ones don’t care
- resentful of people who seem happy and successful
So, in conclusion, I hope I have at least highlighted what victim mentality is and at least made the case that no matter our circumstances we can live as the victor and not the victim.
-
2
- Show all
