
REFRAME THE NARRATIVE
Don’t play the victim mentality for sympathy. It will either keep you retrogressively in life or in cycles of stagnation. Instead, take stock. Examine your past challenges as opportunities for growth, and move completely from a victim mentality to building your own authority, identity, and independence through faith in Christ Jesus.
[Psalm 34:15] – “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” This verse is a promise that God is near, not so far away, during times of deep sorrow, grief, and emotional pain. The verse offers comfort, assurance, and divine intervention for those struggling with hopelessness – victimhood per se in this subject.
Beloved, here is the encouragement for us. To defeat such narratives, I will entreat you to refrain from your inward-looking shadow and light up your God-created image in your personality.
So how do you do that, you may ask? Start reframing your personal narrative through the lens of the scripture, and shifting from a perspective of victimhood to one of divine purpose. View life’s challenges as part of a larger story that was written by only our Lord God, but not man. Once you are in recognition of this Biblical ethos, lay the victimization narrative under the foot of the cross for Christ.
To strengthen your mindset, you will have to align yourself with the divine spirit of the Lord by renewing your mind, as Romans 12:2 states: You need to ‘Trust in the Lord as the author of your life,’ and find hope in his promises that will transform your pain into God’s purpose for your life. You certainly will achieve a great makeover of your life if you trust in the Lord with confidence, faith and hope in him.
Looking at Proverbs 3:5-6, we realize that it is the primary Scripture verse for encouragement, highlighting God’s plan over human reason for trusting God’s direction over our life: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths”. If we submit to God’s plan over our own understanding, our narratives will change the narrators’ stories through prayers and our faith in Christ.
Believers, if the Lord has broken the barrier of victimhood, you should accept and acknowledge past experiences as lessons, and don’t let them hold you imprisoned. You can never move forward to empower yourself for any success, spiritually and in any facet of life, be it business or social, by holding on to the past or past pain.
See, the devil would want you not to move on to renew your mind to narrate your positive story. The devil is well aware that spot is difficult to let go – it is the “spirit of unforgiving.” But you have the power through Christ Jesus to overcome it, and that power tool is only through fervent prayer by aligning it with the divine power of the Living God.
So with prayer and perseverance, you will change your outward and inner expression to match God’s created personality, asking the Lord to guard and direct your mind. Pray that you can discern and identify the source of self-focused and self-defeating thoughts to replace your negatives or self-defeating mindset, and always trust the Lord that your declarations are recognized, so you can rest in peace with a renewed mind.
As a Christian, you have to act to align yourself with the Lord to embrace the present, not the past, as it is clearly stated above. The Lord’s presence in your life will help you to make choices that lead to desired outcomes. Your present is your focal point toward your future success, not your past realities – discern deeper in the spirit and take greater control over decisions and actions that will empower you to success in God’s glory.
Beloved, I wish you therefore to take note of Ephesians 1:11 that, “God works all things after the counsel of his will.” Consequently, trust in the Lord with faith and hope, and shift from a victim mindset to a survivor mindset; focus on your strengths and the opportunities ahead rather than deficits or the past.
This means that your life, all of it, has been worked out according to the counsel of God’s will, and as long as our confidence, our faith, and hope are in him, the mentality of victimhood will never have a place in God’s people. Keep the Faith and Hope alive.
** This is FAITH and HOPE DIARIES. Share.

