Victims Cause Contentions

If you've ever heard the stories of those on Judge Judy or those that need marriage counseling or those that just fight you will quickly realize that both sides feel they are the victims. Its my thought that only those that have a victim mentality will cause contentions.
Christ spoke out against contentions-
3 Nephi 11:29

For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another.

The Savior came to earth to unite us with Him and His Father. That was His divine mission and purpose for living, dying, and resurrecting. A common word for this is Atonement. At-one-ment.

John 17:20-21
Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be cone in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

There are so many scriptures to illustrate the point of God wanting us to be united and at one even as He is with His Christ. To do this we must be forgiving, humble, loving, giving, etc. Which means not submitting to our natural reactions of revenge, hate, jealousy, and any other secondary inferior emotions.
Here is a good scripture for that too-
Mosiah 3:19

For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.

Now, we see that the Gospel is an open invitation to let go of your fear, doubt, hate, pride and smallness of soul for something stronger and open. When we are feeling wronged we must remember that a perfect man walked the earth and was condemned and trampled under our feet. We must remember that He went below everything to rise above all His enemies. He is the Savior and we must be like Him to be with Him and be at one.
One more scripture-

Isaiah 53

¹Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?

²For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

³He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

⁴Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

⁵But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

⁶All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

⁷He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

⁸He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

⁹And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

¹⁰Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.

¹¹He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

¹²Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

In conclusion-
We are not victims to anything but our pride, our selfishness, our hate. When we act out on others we are hurting ourselves, because we are the ones committing the sin. When others act out on us we are not victims if we forgive, if we love, if we give, if we are humble, if we are Christ like and at one with Him.

Be not a victim.