You can hardly turn on the TV or radio these days without hearing people blame their problems on growing up in a dysfunctional family. If you have any doubts just turn on Jerry Springer for a few minutes. I don't know where they find these people. And most of them are dead right, they are a dysfunctional family, but that is no excuse for their abnormal and outrageous behavior. Oh, the words sound good and they ring true, but the excuse is lame.
The reason the words ring true to us is because we all have a degree of dysfunction in our lives. The reason for the lameness of the excuse is this: we are all from dysfunctional families. We are the descendants of Adam and Eve. If you remember that family, they had the first fight between two brothers which ended in one killing the other. Giving birth to a dysfunctional son Cain, caused murder and mayhem to break out among the first two brothers. And nothing much has changed over the years. That same murdering spirit exists in the world today. In a world where we are all supposed to be brothers and sisters, we allow ourselves to fall into the competitive, jealous, angry spirit that Cain first manifested.
People today sometimes have a "get him first" killing spirit, while at the same time giving an outward appearance of being courteous and cooperative. We must face the reality every day that some of our problems stem from the fact that there is somebody that doesn't like our success. International wars have resulted from the jealousy of one man over another man's success or possessions. Is it any wonder that the minor skirmishes we face in the daily battles of our personal lives come from the same root of jealousy?
Your attitude today is something that is totally under your own control. You choose. You choose whether you will be prejudiced...angry …hateful...bitter...resentful. It is in your power to make a decision about what you will think and how you will act. Don' t blame your actions on your dysfunctional family. Rather than have a "get him before he gets me" attitude, choose to have a "give to him first" attitude. Such an attitude will be far more beneficial to you, not only for now, but for all eternity.