Victim to Victor – The Power of Choice
The static mindset, the growth mindset, the victim mindset, and the victor mindset. These are choices we make and mental wars we each engage in, and we can do so either through active engagement or through passive obstinacy to remain as we are. As I have thought through these ideas and sought to honestly see who I am, I have often found I am not fond of the man in the mirror. But before I get too personal, allow me the time to introduce these ideas in my own words.
The Static & Victim Mindset
The Static mind is a deterministic mindset, and its close friend is the victim mindset. The static mind is a mind that does not believe it can change. I have learned through the past year of study that there is in neuroscience some ideas that seem to lend themselves to this idea. As we get older, the amount of neuroplasticity that exists within us diminishes.
Neuroplasticity is the brain's ability to adapt and change as a result of experience. It refers to the process by which neurons, or nerve cells, in the brain, form new connections and pathways in response to changes in the environment.
What neuroscience has revealed is that as we get older we develop essentially mental “ruts.” They are, in many ways, the same as when you drive down a muddy road, you create ruts in the road, and when the road dries, you are left with these deep ruts that can often be very nearly impossible to stay out of. These ruts can often be traced to childhood trauma and other life experiences that shocked our neurosystems. These ruts often then result in us repeating past experiences. Studies essentially show that our minds literally create shortcuts in our brains. These shortcuts are incredible as they are part of what allows us to do things seemingly on autopilot. But what also happens is it can leave a person feeling as though they have no control over themselves as they have literally unwittingly created an auto-response system.
If you ever want to see it in yourself, consider what you do when you are standing in line to check out at a store or restaurant. Have you ever realized that your phone seemingly ends up in your hands without you consciously choosing to pull it out? You can navigate to Instagram or TikTok without even realizing that you did it. These actions are mental response systems that we create. Many of these response systems are incredible and necessary for us to function. But they can also leave you to feel as though you are held captive by this system.
Through these systems, we can begin to feel that we are indeed simply a victim of the systems at play within us. We become mastered by our minds rather than master over it. What neuroscience has revealed is that the older we get, the less capable we become to change. As the classic saying goes, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” But we all know this isn’t true. Also, we are not dogs. We are a creature that is not bound by nature, something I wrote about last week. We are a create that was given the capacity to defy our natural inclinations. Many scientists today accept the theory of evolution that we are nothing more than an evolved ape who has developed a higher function. If, on the other hand, we accept God’s story and the story He has given us of who we are, then we know that from the beginning, we have been set apart from creation as something greater than mere animals. God uniquely made humanity in “His image,” and I am unfit and incapable of explaining fully what that means, but part of what I do know is it means that we are not bound by our natural inclinations and that we have the God-given capacity to defy nature as we are not a creature that is only biological, but we are also a spiritual creature. We share with the animals a biological body confined to it in many ways, but then we also share in part with the Angels, and we are also part spirit.
Romans 12: 1 & 2 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing, and perfect will.
The Growth & Victor Mindset
My absolute favorite thing in the world is when I learn more about scientific discoveries and then am able to see how science echos what God has already said. We are called to make our bodies a living sacrifice, we are called to make ourselves subject to the Holy Spirit and not be conformed to the patterns of this world. Even as I write this, I find this revelation incredible. God has called us to be greater than the patterns of this world. Our mental ruts are a result of “patterns of this world.” Where the science of this world would call us to believe that we are a “Static victim” of the world, God calls us something more. God calls us to a higher place. He says we are creatures made to be and become more like Him. He has given us part of Himself in the Holy Spirit, and through the Holy Spirit, we are transformed from a finite creature to an infinite creature.
I don’t know if this resonates with anyone else, but it fuels my soul with energy to realize I am truly in ways I can not fully conceive a creature who has been called a “Son of God” and “Ambassador.” I am someone who has been given the faculties to reflect the image of God. I do not have to be bound to my old “patterns” or “habits.” By the grace of God, I have been given the ability to defy them and not be a victim to them. If I am willing to “present my body as a living sacrifice,” this is true worship unto God. If I am constantly willing to “renew my mind” with the word of God and submit myself to it, then I can be affirmed through testing of that word that I am in the “will of God.”
God has called us to be more! Again, in Romans, we read that He calls us “more than conquerors.” We have, by grace, been given the ability not to be defined by the “patterns of this world” but to instead become more. My prayer for this year is that I become more and better. By God’s grace, I will not be defined by the circumstances of my life, my childhood does not define me, my parentage does not define me, rejection does not define me; I am defined by God alone! And I submit to that alone. I do not yet know to what end God is calling me, but I do know He has called me not to be defined by the world. I do know He has called me to be a man of excellence and to seek to grow in all things.
So, to all those who make it this far, I must ask, what has God called you to this year, this month, this week or even today? What New Year resolutions have you attempted and failed in the past? Will you commit to making this the year where you finally break free of the patterns of this world by the grace of God and His will? Or will you give empty platitudes again? Will you be defined by excuses as to why you failed again? Or will you finally truly commit to not being a victim of the circumstances of life, and will you allow God to take what your enemy went for evil and allow Him to use it for good?
God has given us this choice, He has given us the freedom to choose in these things. I am convinced I will fail, but I submit myself to trying, and as long as God does not give up on me, I submit to continuing to try. I will never be perfect on this side of heaven, but I pray for renewed energy each day to keep aiming toward that goal. Last year, I committed to making my thirties the most productive, growth-focused years of my life to date. I truly believe this is what God is calling me toward, I do not know to what end, but I am with daily effort seeking to trust and simply obey.
So my final question to you all today is this: where is God calling you, and will you submit?
