The Bible says that we are more than conquerors
in Jesus, but some days it surely doesn't feel
that way. If your circumstances or some of the
wrong that has been done to you has beaten you
down and you've gotten to where you're convinced
life isn't fair and you don't know how to get
out from under that, well, stay with me. That's
what we're going to talk about today. Don't go
away. Thanks for listening to this edition of
Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. We are an
international teaching and discipleship ministry
that encourages and equips Christians to live
like Christians. Well, in just a minute, we'll
wrap up our series, Get Out of Your Head, taught
by our guest speaker, Jenny Allen. Over the past
handful of programs, she's identified the most
prominent toxic thoughts that can poison our
minds and provided some scriptural remedies to
combat them. We hope you've learned a lot and
been encouraged by this series from Jenny. And
to help others learn and find encouragement too,
take a minute after the message and share it
with someone in your life. Now you can do that
through the Chip Ingram app or wherever you listen
to podcasts. Okay, here now is Jenny Allen to
wrap up this series with her final message, The
Antidote for Victimhood and Complacency. All
right, guys, we are talking about something that
can feel heavy, but I think is going to change
your thinking and change your life because we
have accidentally all become victims. And I'm
telling you, you want to talk about something
that robs joy. It is not believing we have responsibility
over our lives, that we have authority or power
over our lives. When we start to believe that
we are victims to our... lives, to our circumstances,
to our thoughts, to our feelings, to our situations.
Oh my gosh, that is where we become paralyzed.
We become defeated. We become sad, sad, sad.
And so this one matters. It is absolutely rampant
in our culture to some degree. All of us have
taken up this banner of victimhood in some way.
It might be in a relationship where you've been
wounded. It might be with a circumstance that
just feels so unfair. We have been owning this
idea that we are so wronged. And I say no more.
No more. And the reason I say no more is because
that is a miserable way to live. And it's not
even true that God has given us so much authority
and power over our circumstances, over our feelings,
over our mind, over our attitudes about things
that we can change. And we don't have to live
like this. So let's talk about, first of all,
there are real victims. I want to be super clear.
I'm not saying that there are not real victims.
My gosh, the news, you just have to watch it
one minute and you see true atrocity. against
mankind, like just things that your stomach can't
even barely handle of the difficult circumstances
so many of you are facing right now. It's unthinkable.
Some of you have been victimized to such an incredible
level. And so I just want to say to all of you
that have been abused, to all of you that have
been wounded and hurt by people, I am so, so
sorry. And no, I'm not saying that you aren't
a victim. You are a victim. to a crime, to a
perpetrator, to an action that was done against
you, you are a victim. But what's interesting
is as I've interviewed people that are victims,
what I've found is that so many of them don't
even like that word. They don't want to use that
word about themselves because they don't want
to give that much power to their perpetrator.
They like the word survivor better because that
puts the power in their court. They're saying,
you know what? I survived you. I survived that
attack. And I think what I've heard and learned
from them is that Being a survivor puts the power
back in their court and they want to be those
that are not defined by the thing that happened
to them. What I'm speaking to is the victimhood
mentality of all of us that continues to feel
like we have been wronged and life isn't fair
and it's us against the world. I'm going to use
a story about my son. As an example, when my
son came home recently from fishing with some
friends, he had this story of just, I mean, wow,
it was bad. Like how he got treated, why it went
down. I was like, wow, this is pretty bad. And
then I was like, well, Cooper, what did you do
to bring this on? And he said, well, you know,
I mean. I mean, it wasn't fair, but I got mad
because so -and -so said this, and then I threw
his stuff in the lake. And I was like, well,
okay, buddy, you know, not so much of a victim.
And I think that's what I'm talking about is
not true victims that have been completely sinned
against and abused. I'm talking about the fact
that we are moving in and out of relationships,
in and out of circumstances where we continue
to just go, woe is me. I am being wronged by
the world when likely. We need to take some more
responsibility for our own actions. And how have
we contributed to this situation? Also, I'm talking
about victimhood that steals the power of God
from a situation where we begin to speak as if
there's helplessness and hopelessness when God
has said, I've made you more than conquerors.
I've made you more than conquerors. And I've
equipped you, like Corinthians says, with divine
weapons to destroy strongholds. So we are not
victims. I'm talking about just our stubborn
will. You know, I'm just talking to the stubborn
will in all of us that just says, poor me. We
have a poor me mentality. And what happens when
we live in that? And even if we struggle with
mental illness, even if we struggle with victimhood
from real serious hurt and abuse and crimes,
we still can't live in that place of poor me
or we're gonna lose all our joy and we're not
gonna believe God for healing. We're not gonna
believe God for a future and a hope. And so what
I'm saying is we gotta shift that. So let's look
at the scriptures. 1 Thessalonians 5, 16 through
18. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give
thanks in all circumstances, for this is the
will of God in Christ Jesus for you. How does
God say we change and shift our mindset from
poor me to good God? And it is this. It is with
gratitude. It is with gratitude. It is with worship.
It is that we see the good in our lives. People
that are grateful are happier. This is not mysterious
science stuff. This is science though. In the
studies that I looked at universally, people
that just say things like thank you, they actually
change their chemistry. They change the way that
their bodies are working. Expressing gratitude
caused subjects in the study that the National
Institute of Health did. to increase dopamine
hits, the reward transmitters actually send happy
thoughts to your brain. Like this is something
that changes our chemistry. This isn't just something
that God says to do because it's the right thing
to do. God hardwired us to be grateful people.
Our model for this is Paul, right? I mean, he
was often in difficult circumstances and yet
he had this ability to view his life within this
framework of eternity and with this framework
of great hope and great joy. and great gratitude.
If all Paul saw were his circumstances and his
imprisonment, then he would have been despondent.
But he didn't just see that. He actually saw
the power of God to use him in the midst of those
circumstances. He saw the power of God to use
him in the midst of a generation by writing these
letters to the churches. He saw the power of
God to eventually rescue him and bring him home.
So there was great hope in Paul that whatever
his circumstances were, they were God -given.
And how could he twist them? Instead of being
the victim in prison, even as an innocent man,
how could he twist that circumstance and believe
that he was in the exact right spot so that,
Philippians says, that even the guards are seeing.
the glory of God in him. Like this is what happened
in prison is that guards were saved. Like he
saw himself as a missionary, even in prison,
even when he was so unjustly treated. I think
this whole idea of living a life of gratitude
instead of victimhood, it feels daunting. It
feels like, how do I move into this? And I think
the way that we've got to do it is one, we've
got to believe in all of these situations that
these supernatural, divinely powerful weapons
that Corinthians talks about, that they're real,
that we are actually fighting with real weapons,
even though they're invisible, that gratitude
is a weapon that slays darkness, that prayer
is a weapon that slays darkness, that connection
with other people and them fighting for us, it
slays darkness. Time with God, it slays darkness.
So we can't treat these like... oh, I'm just
gonna say a prayer. It's like, no, I'm gonna
fight the devil. You know, that's what we're
doing with prayer. And so we've got to believe
in these things that God is saying his power
dwells in because it's supernatural fighting
supernatural, right? And so what the enemy wants
is for us to lay down and be impotent, to just
not be able to do anything good, to just sit
there and feel sorry for ourselves and be passive
recipients of a hard life until we get to heaven
because that is a sad state of affairs. The dangerous
ones are the ones that get up, grab the sword
and go fight. I mentioned my husband's grandfather,
who's in his 90s, that fought in World War II.
He was dropped out of an airplane. His parachute
didn't open. He crashes, blocks out. He's in
a prisoner of war camp in Germany. I mean, it
was dark and horrible. He loses fingers. He's
just this man that has everything stacked against
him. And yet he's like, no, I'm going to go be
a great husband. I'm going to build a great life.
I'm going to obey God. I'm going to raise my
kids to love God. I'm going to be a good man.
And I watch his life and I go, okay, that is
what it looks like. Like fighting the good fight
is choosing delight and choosing joy and choosing
gratitude instead of choosing cynicism and victimhood.
This is what it looks like. We slay the darkness
by choosing joy over choosing to pout our whole
lives because life wasn't fair. And I'm not saying
life hasn't been really unfair to you. Goodness
gracious. I'm saying that there is a God that's
bigger than it and that living as a victim to
it is not an option for you. Like it is not a
way to live. And being someone who sees the good
through it. And I mean, this is something my
sister could preach so much better than me because
she has tasted darkness beyond anything I could
ever imagine. She has tasted brokenness beyond
anything I could ever imagine. But I watched
her up close and I can tell you, she chose gratitude
and God protected. her joy, protected her delight,
protected her heart. And she still loves him.
And she still loves those kids. And she's not
bitter. And she's not angry. And it is just forgiveness
is a better way to live. It's a better way to
live. So we have a choice. We can center our
thoughts on the certainty that no matter what
comes, we are upheld securely by God's righteous
right hand. So how does this actually flush itself
out? One, I think we've got to see it in ourselves
and we got to ask bold questions of our friends.
We need to ask our friends, like, do you see
me being a victim to my circumstances, to my
mind, to my emotions? Ask that question to people
that know you really well and be ready for the
answer because honestly, this enemy that's fighting
for us, people see it. And then we got to own
that. And we got to say, okay, what does it look
like for me not to live as a victim to this?
What does it look like for me to, with authority
and with power, to trust God more and to hope
more and to believe the truth about myself, to
believe the truth about my future? And that's
going to take war, right? We're at war. All of
these situations, all these things, remember,
these are enemies. They are coming for us and
we've got to fight back. We can't just passively
get over this and like have a positive thought.
We have to fight this in a bigger way than just
changing our thinking. We have to actually go
to war with it, go to war with these weapons.
And I'm telling you, gratitude is one that helps
this. When you are going through something where
you feel beat up or you feel like backed in a
corner, where you feel like helpless, hopeless,
I want you to start noticing, noticing the good
in people, noticing the good from God, noticing
the good in your life. And all of a sudden it's
like, oh, you know what? Everything is not going
to hell in a handbasket. I actually see God advocating
for me. I see good happening around me. I see
good in myself. I see myself being stronger than
I was yesterday. I see myself getting up today
and taking care of my kids when I didn't think
I could breathe. You start to notice those things
and you start to realize how strong you are,
how strong God has made you, and how good He
has been to you and how much He's watching out
for you. It is a different way to live. It's
a supernaturally different way to live. You've
been listening to author and speaker Jenny Allen
here on Living on the Edge. I'm Chip Ingram,
and Jenny is our guest speaker for the series
Get Out of Your Head. Today, she's been talking
about the dangers of the victimhood mindset that's
gripped our generation. For the rest of today's
program, she's going to highlight the seventh
and last toxic thought that threatens to steal
our joy, complacency. Jenny continues today from
Galatians chapter 5. So let's look at the scriptures.
You, my brothers and sisters, are called to be
free, but do not use your freedom to indulge
the flesh, to be lazy, adding that myself, rather
serve one another humbly in love. And I'm adding
to be lazy because I do believe it is a temptation
of our generation to check out, to numb out.
It's all too much. We're bombarded with too many
problems. What can we do about it? How do we
even help? And we pull back and get online and
we zone out and we numb out and we get complacent.
And I'm going to interchange the word lazy with
this because I really believe that we need to
hate this word. I think complacency sounds kind
of neutral, but laziness, that's not okay. But
the way the enemy's getting us to it is he's
just overwhelming us to the point that we don't
think we can participate in this big story because
there's just too much to do. My husband always
says the definition of leadership is taking initiative
for the good of others. And so as we start to
reject passivity, and we lean into the needs
around us, what happens to our minds is that
they get set on the things of God. They get set
on other people and they get set on the things
of God. I've talked about this before that Hebrews
12 is... a theme passage for me, and I want to
say something about it again, and that it says,
we fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter
of our faith. We throw off the sin and the weight
that so easily entangles us and run the race
that's set before us. Didn't get the order right
on that, but it doesn't matter because what I
believe happens is that's happening simultaneously,
that all three of those things are happening
at the same time, that as we run the race that's
set before us, we have to fix our eyes on Jesus
because we need him. And the sin and the weight
falls off of us because we've got a mission and
we're busy and we're tired and we're running
after God. And so that idea of mission and intentionality,
leading and loving well, that God's called us
to, that idea of... doing it. It feels big to
us. It feels unknowable to us. It feels like
we're not equipped for it and we dismiss ourselves.
But y 'all, as you get on the track and get off
the sidelines and just start doing it, you cannot
believe how much of your sin and weight falls
off of you. You don't have time to think about
yourself so much. You don't have time to think
about your problems so much. You don't have time
to be a victim. You don't have time to sit around
and feel sorry for yourself, but you do have
time for God because you need him, because you're
actually taking risk. and you're nervous, and
you don't know what's about to happen, and you're
praying more, and you're asking God for miracles
in your friends' lives, and you're praying for
God to move around you. And so there's this movement
in your life that is God -centered and God -propelled,
but requires our initiative to participate. I
love that God does this. I mean, ideally, if
I'm God, I would just make everybody robots,
like, you will participate in the movement of
my work because... I want you all to do what
I want you to do. But that's not how God built
us. He built us with a choice. And we've talked
about this a lot throughout this series, that
we have a choice. We have a choice what we think
about. We have a choice how we live. We have
a choice in our perspective. And we have a choice
when it comes to spending our lives for ourselves,
selfishly, lazily, or we have a choice to spend
our lives well for the glory of God and the good
of people. And I'm telling you, it is the best.
way to live. Science would tell you that subconsciously
you want to please yourself. You want to take
care of yourself. You want to feed every desire
that you have, but that brains that actually
don't do that, that serve others and that spend
more of their time thinking about other people.
are the healthiest brains. Those are actually
the ones that are thriving. The science research
that I did on this said consistently that serving
others reduces stress, that there's a deeper
connection in your life to other people. People
who live with purpose, they actually sleep better
and they live longer. Like this is physically
affecting us. Our brains are made to serve other
people. I really cannot sell this hard enough.
And the reason I mean it is because as you serve
God and you get on board with his mission, So
many things fall in their place. You are dependent
on him. You are quick to ask for forgiveness
so the mission isn't disrupted. I think in my
own life, because I'm on mission, how many times
I am lulled out of complacency just because a
lot has been given to me and a lot is expected
of me. Yes, in my flesh, like Galatians. I would
like to use my freedom to serve my flesh. That
sounds good on a lot of days, but the truth is
I have a deadline. I have somebody that needs
me. I have a meeting that is to serve an organization
I care about. I have something that propels me
out of bed and away from Netflix on a given day,
and I'm so grateful for that. The times in my
life where I've really, you know, taken too long
of a break, I start to get selfish, and I start
to just, you know what I do? You know what I
do? I internet shop. That's what I do. I get
online and I start to shop. And do I need another
thing in my entire life? I really don't. And
I'll send stuff back. I'll just send it to my
house, try it on, send it back. I know. All the
men are like, I know your type. You live in my
house. I know. I know. We frustrate you. It's
too easy. So what happens when I don't have enough
to do? I get selfish. I get complacent. I get
lazy. I get materialistic. I feed my flesh. My
flesh grows. I feed the spirit. The spirit grows.
And service feeds the spirit. Sacrifice feeds
the spirit. Now, I'm not talking about sacrifice
for the sake of sacrifice. I'm talking about
obedient, godly, risky sacrifice for the glory
of God. And guys, it is a... more difficult way
to live. It goes against your flesh and what
you want to do with your own freedom. But I'm
telling you, it is how we were built to live
and we are not joyful and we are not free any
other way. You want your mind to be free, you
go serve people and you get out from under the
idolatry of yourself. And I'm telling you. your
mind starts to shift. It is getting in the game.
It is not sitting on the sidelines with your
arms crossed, being critical of everything happening
on the field. It's actually getting in the game
and serving God. Now, I know some of you are
processing, what does it look like to use my
gifts? I don't know what I'm good at. I don't
know what God wants me to do. You know what?
There is need right in front of you. And that
need, you don't have to go find some mysterious
calling or a mission field. It's right. where
you are. What is the need in your neighborhood?
What is the need in your kids' friends' lives?
What is the need in your kids? What is the need
in your marriage? What is the need in your friends'
lives? You look right in front of you and you
meet need. It's a great way to live. And as we
do it, and as we serve God, the supernatural
power of service is that we are not so focused
and fixated on ourselves. So we shift our gaze.
And we see that there's a greater plan for our
lives than building a comfortable life. And we
interrupt the spiral of self and this pattern
of complacency when we run the races set before
us. This is how God designed us to live. I know
all of us, we're coming to the end of this and
you're going, oh no, I'm still thinking negative
thoughts. You know what? You know what you're
doing now that you didn't do before this? Is
you're noticing your thoughts. So now you even
know that you're having negative thoughts. You
know that you're thinking about yourself too
much. And prior to this, that wasn't your story.
We were just victims to our minds, victims to
our thoughts. And what we can do when we notice
our thoughts, when we start to see these negative
patterns in our life that maybe we didn't even
know were there before, we can start to fight
it. And we have these weapons, service, gratitude,
stillness with God, connection, trust, delight.
These are the weapons God has given us to fight
the enemies of our mind. And guess what? Y 'all,
God wins. These weapons are powerful enough to
destroy strongholds. They are powerful enough
to change our minds. The next verse in 2 Corinthians,
when he talks about destroying strongholds, the
next verse is, so we take every thought captive
because we are no longer in bondage to the enemy
of our mind. We don't have to submit to the enemy
of our mind anymore. If we are children of God,
we have power over it. And Paul knows this. So
he says, so take that power and use it. Take
this power and have authority over your thoughts.
Take this power and quit being so selfish and
complacent and go change the world. Like that's
what God wants for us. He has a plan for us to
shift our circumstances and our mind so that
we can shift our world. And that is contagious.
A healthy mind is contagious, just like a toxic
one is contagious. A healthy mind is contagious.
When you get around somebody whose mind is fixed
on Christ, whose mind loves and serves intentionally
other people, those people, you want to be around
them. You want to be like them and you want to
be around them. My grandmother was this way,
actually both my grandmothers, but specifically
my mom's mom. I just remember she didn't talk
about God a lot, but she loved him. And she just
lived so content. And she lived focused on whoever
was in front of her. You were her hero when you
were in her presence. You were her hero. She
believed in you. She fought for you. She wanted
you to know that she loved you. She was a steady
force and picture of a healthy mind. And the
woman was disciplined. I mean, she had her same
things every day. She gardened, she cooked, my
granddad gardened. They had a simple, steady
routine and they kept their minds focused on
the people that mattered and the things that
mattered. And they loved God and they showed
that in their actions and the ways that they
love people. And guys, that's what this life
looks like. It looks like faithful, steady obedience,
our minds fixed on Christ, loving other people.
And as we do, the world changes a little bit
by a little bit. And you want to live a life
like this that's contagious. You want a mind
like this that is healthy. The power of God is
within you. You are not left alone as an orphan.
He has given us a counselor. He has given us
himself in the form of the Spirit. And that Spirit,
if you follow Christ, is accessible to you. And
it is powerful. And so we are not left alone
to figure this out. I am telling you, He loves
you. And He's fighting for you. And He's with
you. And he wants to see you take greater strides
for his kingdom and for his glory. This is Living
on the Edge with Chip Ingram. And you've been
listening to our guest teacher, Jenny Allen's
series, Get Out of Your Head. Chip will join
us in studio in just a minute to share his application
for today's message, The Antidote for Victimhood
and Complacency. Let me ask you, what drives
your thought life? What influences the way you
think? Is it anxiety, loneliness, insecurity?
Whatever it is, do you feel trapped by it? Like,
no matter how hard you try, your mind drifts
back to these harmful patterns. Well, in this
series, author and speaker Jenny Allen called
out seven toxic thoughts that derail our connection
to God. We pray you discovered the powerful antidotes
God's given us to break free from these dangerous
mindsets. That's living on the edge. And if you're
wanting to do a deeper study on this topic, let
me encourage you to get Jenny's book, Get Out
of Your Head. For complete details, go to livingontheedge
.org or call us at 888 -333 -6003. That's 888
-333 -6003 or livingontheedge .org. App listeners
tap special offers. Well, Chip's with me in studio
now. And Chip, Jenny spent the last half of today's
message talking about complacency and how it's
polluting Christianity. Take a minute, if you
would, and talk about how pervasive this problem
is and what Living on the Edge is doing about
it. I'd be glad to, Dave. We've got millions
of people going to church, going through the
motions, many of them sincere but ignorant about
the gospel, about truth. Their lives don't change.
We have a whole generation of young people saying,
you can have your Jesus and your churchianity
and I'm out of here because they don't see reality.
And Living on the Edge has been called to declare
war on religious activity that doesn't align
with the Jesus of the New Testament. but we can't
do it without you. I grew up in that environment,
and I turned away from God, and I just praise
God that he brought people into my life that
clearly explained the gospel, but as importantly,
they lived it out, and they lived it out in real
life and loved me and cared for me, and they
were holy, and they weren't weird. God longs
to do that in our day. And the message of Living
on the Edge is helping Christians live like Christians.
We do it through teaching. We create resources.
But it requires a team. And for us to do it moving
toward the future, as God has opened more and
more doors, I simply tell you, I need your help.
Would you prayerfully consider partnering with
us today and kind of move that good intention?
You thought about it. I ought to help him out.
Yeah, I already decided in my head I would. But
the fact is you haven't acted on it yet. Act
on it today. Let's make a difference. Thanks,
Chip. If partnering with Living on the Edge is
an idea that makes sense to you, we'd love to
have you join us. Helping Christians live like
Christians will change the world we live in.
To give a gift, call us at 888 -333 -6003. That's
888 -333 -6003. Or if you prefer to give online,
go to livingontheedge .org. That's livingontheedge
.org. App listeners, tap Donate. And thank you
for partnering with us. Now here's Chip with
a few final thoughts for you to think about.
As we wrap up today's message and the entire
series by Jenny Allen, entitled Get Out of Your
Head, I'd like to do a brief review. And as I
walk through these very slowly, I'd like you
to be thinking about which one of these toxic
thoughts that you need to address. You maybe
heard it earlier, but you think, you know, I
need to come up with a plan to really address
it. Listen carefully. Toxic thought, number one,
noise. Number two, isolation. Number three, anxiety.
Number four, cynicism. Number five, pride. Number
six, victimhood. And number seven, complacency.
You know, we all struggle with those things.
I love Jenny's teaching. I love her passion.
And I love that she develops these fully in her
book entitled Get Out of Your Head. And just
so that you don't miss the answers, the antidotes,
she didn't leave us with, hey, try hard. She
said, here's the antidotes. It's silence. It's
connection. It's trust. It's delight. It's humility.
It's gratitude and intentionality. The overall
message, I mean, the take -home point is to take
every thought captive. to the obedience of Christ.
What I've learned over these years is that we
are a product of our thought life. I mean, if
you would want to do a very quick Bible study,
just look up passages that have the mind. Colossians
chapter 3, the first four verses, or Romans 8,
verses 5 through 8, or Proverbs 23, colon 7.
I mean, all of them talk about your thinking.
You are the product of your thinking. And we
have to replace the false and the lies and the
toxic with the truth. And then we have to believe
that truth and put it into practice. And what
I love about having Jenny Allen on our broadcast
was the opportunity for us at Living on the Edge
to hear God's Word through another voice, through
another lens, through the lens of a woman that's
grown up differently than me or some of our other
speakers, the lens of a woman who's reaching
and touching and helping other women. The lens
of a woman that walks humbly with God, that believes
in the authority of Scripture, and is practical,
is passionate, and I think has helped us get
out of our own heads and take every thought captive
to the obedience of Christ. Great encouragement,
Chip. As we close, do you want to deepen your
connection to God amid your busy life? Then take
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Well, from all of us here, I'm Dave Drewy, thanking
you for listening to this edition of Living on
the Edge, and I hope you'll join us again next
time.