Exploitation does not always require malice; it often stems from ordinary, unexamined selfishness. We can easily take advantage of someone’s vulnerability or crisis simply because it presents an opportunity to get what we want, masking our desires as “protection” or “love.”
The Danger of Capitalizing on Crisis
In Genesis 25, Jacob exploited Esau’s exhausted and panicked state to secure his birthright rather than offering help. The ledger of that exchange turns a man’s hunger into leverage:
A panicked hunger
His brother’s future
When people are overwhelmed, they lose emotional equilibrium. Steering a confused person toward a decision that benefits a hidden agenda violates biblical love.
A Modern Tragedy: Exploiting the Emotional Fog
Consider a scenario where a distressed wife calls her parents in a moment of panic. Instead of de-escalating the situation, their own selfishness and resentment drove them to fuel the fire, convincing her to move back home immediately.
The casualties of this “rescue” included an unmoored wife, an abandoned husband, and uprooted children, while the parents justified their actions as protection.
The Spiritual Blindness of “Good Intentions”
The New Testament links hidden resentment and selfish motives to chaos. Bitter envy and selfish ambition do not end in peace; they end in disorder.
James 3:14–16“But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth.… For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.”
Galatians 5:10, 12“The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty… As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!”
Those who throw others into confusion for the sake of control take a hard measurement from the apostle — and those who love them must not mistake the stirring of chaos for the work of the Spirit.
Christian Self-Awareness: Guarding Our Hearts
Romans 15:1–2“We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up.”
Believers must cultivate self-awareness during a crisis by questioning their own heart before the fog settles. Three questions break the mist:
- Am I seeking clarity for them, or control over them?
- Do I have a personal stake in the outcome I am steering toward?
- Am I protecting existing covenants — or serving my own resentment?
True love refuses to build its own comfort on another’s panic.
and start asking “what do they need.”
Soli Deus · will.tote.lol