Victimization has been a growing movement in America for decades. It probably began with Freud and Jung in the 19th century but the idea has now caught on and gone main stream.

The number one song in country music right now is a victim song entitled Because of You. In part, the lyrics say, “because of you I never strayed too far from the sidewalk, because of you I find it hard to trust not only me but everyone around me, because of you.”

The message is clear; all of my problems are someone else’s fault. All of my failures and sins would not exist had I not been victimized by someone else.

But when the message of victimization is actually understood, the glaring fallacy is clear; no one is ultimately responsible for anything. The person who abused me was himself, or herself, abused. So my abuser is really not responsible for his actions. The person who abused him was also abused and so forth. Once the blame game begins, it has no end.

The result of a victimized society is no one taking responsibility for his actions and the morality of right and wrong is blurred until it hardly exists at all.

It has become almost required today that every criminal convicted of a crime parades his abused childhood before the judge and jury as justification for his evil actions. Drug addicts blame their behavior on others and the cycle never stops.

All of us have been abused. Every single living being on this planet has been taken advantage of, or mistreated in some way. It’s part of living in this sinful world. Sinners sin and we should not be surprised. So yes, it’s true, we are all victims.

But is that an excuse to justify our shortcomings, sins, inadequacies, and weak character? God’s answer is no.

The Bible clearly teaches that each of us is responsible for our own actions. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad (2 Corinthians 5:10).”

None of us will be able to play the blame game when we stand before the One who knows all things.

Hope for the victimized is not found in playing the blame game. That’s a downward spiral that ends only in disillusionment and misery. Hope for the victim is found in the good news that “the old has gone, the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17)!”

All of us need to leave the past behind. All of us need to embrace regeneration that only Christ can provide. All of us need to say no to victimization and yes to new life in Christ.