Many people think they can win by intimidating others. Well, you’ve probably heard of that book, “Winning through Intimidation.” I remember getting a copy. But since that was a long time ago, I can’t recall a single thing about it. It was a big hit then. Nobody seemed to think it was an odious way of winning.
Intimidation is a double-edged sword. It wounds both the stabber and the stabbed.
Tragically, the stupid stabber thinks he always wins.
We’ve known bullies all our lives. They’re feared by many – yes. But they’re also hated with such venom and vulgarity. While most bullies live and thrive on hate, they eventually die in disgrace and ignominy. Some, even in violence. Because God is all-just.
A legacy of shame is a horrible thing to pass on to one’s children. There are families who spend fortunes trying to launder their name, trying all legal or political means to give some semblance of legitimacy to their ill-gotten wealth or criminal reputations. But to no avail.
A soiled reputation will stay soiled, disgusting and despicable – until someone in that family decides to break out of the family mold. Until that one descendant lives a decent, upstanding life. Imagine what that person could do to redeem his family’s soiled reputation.
All it takes is one. S/he may not erase the stain on their name, but at least people can say – “Well, thank goodness, this one was different. S/he was a decent person, unlike the parents.”
It’s a choice all of us get to make. Continue building on the good name of our parents, or continue rotting with them. Sadly, some children end up even worse than their parents.
When we control people, get what we want by bullying them, maintain our dominance through intimidation, we lose big time because we can surely attain and accomplish maybe even much more – using our skills and abilities, fair play, hard work, persistence. God always, always rewards a hard-working, righteous person. That’s guaranteed. He also gives bonuses: good and loyal friends, reliable connections, an illustrious reputation, a wonderful heritage passed on to our children and descendants. Those are things that a bully automatically deprives himself of.
Why squander your future and your reputation by using such a destructive strategy like intimidation – when you can accomplish even more good things, using God’s standards and work ethics?
I’ve seen men fall flat on their faces – and immediately abandoned by their “friends” – the minute they lost their position, power, wealth.
I also noticed that those who intimidated their way to “success” got the worst of it. They were kicked and punched as they fell to the ground. They were subjected to even more shame. Their names were dragged through the mud, sloshed in the gutter, and paraded around for all to see. There’s so much glee in the downfall of a bully. A tyrant.
As they fall into that bottomless pit of disgrace, what these bullies ought to realize is that intimidation has an expiration date. One day, it won’t work anymore.
And when that day of reckoning comes, either debilitating sickness, or a violent death, or the excruciating pain of powerlessness and poverty will be a bully’s new normal.
