Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.
Romans 12:16 ESV
Why do some people show support for something that is wrong or immoral? Why do some either ignore or turn their heads when something bad is happening in front of them? Why don’t they care about the injustices that are being committed or the killing of innocent people?
I believe they choose to do this to feel good about themselves. They do this to identify with something that in their eyes is synonymous with strength and power. They support leaders they believe share their deep-rooted bigoted beliefs and say to themselves “you know what; it’s okay to be this way.” They want to belong to a group to feed into their “us versus them” mentality. They do it because it makes them feel like winners.
But, there is a huge and destructive flaw with this type of thinking. Right now, some of those people are suffering because of their flawed logic. The first problem was they misunderstood what real strength was. Real strength is speaking out when something is wrong. Real strength is admitting when you are wrong. Real strength doesn’t mean disrespecting people behind the protection of bodyguards and the police. Real strength is telling someone how you feel to their face.
Instead, some of those misguided people thought strength was telling lies, saying disrespectful things about people, and making threats. They thought strength was sabotaging a person behind their back instead of talking to them about an issue to their face. They believed strength was getting the upper hand over another group of people that had different beliefs than they do, even though some of those people were afraid to travel five miles away from their homes.
The second problem was their concept of winning at all cost. In the game of football, that’s the goal of the two teams playing each other – to beat the other team. When someone plays a video game, the goal is to win and beat that game. This concept does not apply, however, when dealing with other people. It does not apply when someone tries to get over on the people they live with or the people in their neighborhood. When they try to win against a group of people in this aspect, it means that the other group lost even though they might have been unaware of the game being played.
Unfortunately, even when they feel like they got the upper hand on someone, they still lose. Once someone finds out that they’re against them and tried to ruin them in underhanded ways, in time they will suffer for it. Because of these “games,” the “victor” will soon realize that life will become harder for them. The neighbor they use to be friendly with no longer likes them and are either scheming against them or ignoring them every chance they get. That coworker that they tried to get in trouble for no reason will fail to be there for them when you need help. The boss that delights in screwing with his employees will eventually struggle to keep his position because of a lack of manpower and efficiency in the workplace. And, a group of people that votes for a corrupt politician because that person supposedly share their values and are against people they dislike will soon realize that they will too suffer because of the politician’s evil ways.
In life there are no true winners. There is only successful and unsuccessful people. Some people can have a lack of money and feel like a success, and people that are rich could still feel like failures. It all depends on a person’s mindset. Any decisions that we make in life should be made without the intent of hurting or getting over on other people. Like it says in Philippians 2:3, “Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” You do this by showing love, compassion, and empathy for the ones around you.
A Better Tomorrow 