Tearing Down Strongholds

Hi everyone, I hope you’re all fine by God’s grace. Today’s post is a kind of critical topic for every Christian; Tearing down strongholds.
In my journey of researching theological themes on the internet, I learned a lot about strongholds. That was a few years ago. It had always seemed to be a very complicated topic to me. Nevertheless, we’re going to break this down today as we learn what strongholds are and how to get rid of them.
First of all, let’s quickly look at the definition of a stronghold. A quick search on Google gives this:

1. A place that has been fortified so as to protect it against attack.
2. A place where a particular cause or belief is strongly defended or upheld.

Please, pay attention to the words in bold.
In our context, I would say, I believe that a stronghold is an incorrect thinking pattern associated with strong beliefs often originally intended to protect the person having them.
I’ll try to classify strongholds in 3 categories, and I’ll try to give examples to support my point:

1. Wrong beliefs about God

• “God doesn’t love me”
• “God doesn’t care about me”
• “God’s never going to forgive me”
• “God is too busy to listen to my prayers, He has other more important things to do”
• “God is going to abandon me just like my dad/mom/best friend/husband/wife etc abandoned me”
• “God wants me to earn His love”
• “God’s waiting for the next occasion to punish me”

2. Wrong beliefs about yourself

• “I am a failure”
• “I am stupid”
• “I am not lovable”
• “I am not worth fighting for”
• “I am worth nothing”
• “I am not normal”
• “I am not good enough”
• “I am never going to make it”
• ” I am a monter”
• “I am disgusting”

3. Wrong beliefs about others

• “All men are liars”
• “All women are cheaters”
• “No body is sincere when they say they love you”
• “No one is honest”
• “No one is trustworthy”
• “Everyone wishes evil to others”
• “No man/woman is faithful”
• “Everybody cheats”
• “True friendship doesn’t exist”
• “Everybody wears masks with me”
• “No body deserves my trust”
• “Love doesn’t exist”
• “No body is ever going to love me”

I guess these examples are really really practical, and you’ve surely recognized yourself in at least one of these wrong beliefs. I recognized myself in many.
In general, these strongholds come up because of an event in our lives, or the way we were brought up, which affected us so much, that we possibly drew a conclusion, and carried those beliefs over.

                    For example, the guy who believes that God wants him to earn His love, probably grew up with a parent (or two) who didn’t express love or acceptance to him unless he had achieved something which measured up to their expectations. As such, he believes that God is just like his parents, waiting for him to do something so that He can love him. This guy needs to learn that God loves us because He loves him. God is love, there’s nothing we did to earn His love, and there’s nothing we can do by the way which can increase or decrease His love for us.

He loved us so much that He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die on The Cross of Calvary for you way before you were born, way before you knew what was good or evil. He’s not waiting for you to have a new job, a new car, to get married or to get baptized before He can love you. He loves you already and He created you because He loves you.

                   The woman who says that she’s unlovable, and not worth fighting for, was possibly abandoned by a parent (or both parents), fiancé, husband, friend, etc. This left a bitter after taste and a sense that she was surely the reason why her mother left when she was 3, or the reason why her fiancé left her for her best friend, or the reason why no one asks her out.
In order to be set free, she has to realize that she doesn’t have to feel this way. You aren’t responsible for the choices your parents, fiancé, husband, friends made. God loves you, Christ gave His life for you because you are priceless and worth fighting for, if others don’t get it it’s none of your business. What really matters is the fact that you know how much you are worthy in God’s sight.
                       The girl who says that all men are liars and cheaters perhaps grew up with a dad who was cheating on her mom, and/or a brother who cheated on his girlfriend, a sister whose boyfriend cheated on her, classmates who cheated on their girlfriends, and when she tried to enter a relationship, the guy she was with cheated on her. That’s a deep enough background to make her believe that all men are cheaters. You may find it funny to realize that some guys have kind of the same background story as her, and thus believe that all women are cheaters.
Believing that everyone is dishonest and is going to cheat on you, is surely your defense mechanism so that you won’t disappointed if you meet another cheater, but it also stops you from enjoying the presence of the sincere people whom God puts in your life. You’ll be so busy suspecting them because you want to protect yourself that you’ll chase away from your life, the people who really loved you.
The reality is, some people are sincere while others cheat. You can’t define the whole world based on what people around you did, by doing so you’re passing by God’s plan for you to enjoy life in abundance in Christ. God has an ideal plan for you and for your relationships, don’t conform to what the world wants you to believe, be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Finally, as you have noticed, fighting a stronghold demands three things

1.  Your motivation (If you don’t really want to get rid of the stronghold, you’ll never get rid of it)
2. The Word of God (You have to fight the lies of the enemy with God’s Word)
3. God’s love and Holy Spirit (To support you in this journey)

I wish you the best in identifying those strongholds and seeking God’s Word to get rid of them.
For further study,  I invite you to watch Crash the Chatterbox, as sermon series on  Youtube by Pastor Steven Furtick, lead pastor of Elevation Church in order to fight the lies of the enemy in your mind and replace them with God’s Word.
Prayer
Father Lord God Almighty, I confess I often have a wrong perception about You, about myself and about others. Please Lord, help me correct these with Your Word and may Your Holy Spirit guide me so that I won’t pass by any stronghold. In Jesus Christ’s Name I pray. Amen.
God bless you all
Thanks for reading
Please Like, Comment, Share and Follow.