"4 For the weapons of our warfare, are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience to Christ."
2 Corinthians 10:4-5 NKJV
Paul speaks a lot about the art of training the mind so that it comes in line with the Word of God. Paul knows very well, that the mind, left to run wild, is the primary for spiritual warfare. What we focus our minds on, has lasting ramifications and can begin to completely rule our lives if we are not careful. Charles F Stanley comments on this as:
'A thought reaps an action, an action reaps a habit, a habit reaps your character and your character reaps your destiny. Therefore, we must reject anything that does not honour Christ in our thinking'. Charles F Stanley.
Our warfare is not against flesh and blood, so our own carnally weak weapons will not do. We need weapons that are God-empowered. Their purpose is for pulling down - demolishing strongholds. A stronghold is anything that opposes God's will. Now here, Paul is referring to the warfare of the mind and against arrogant rebellious ideas and attitudes that act in pride to the true purpose of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The aim is to bring every bad thought into captivity and make it obedient to the Word of God.
Take for instance the thought life. We can feed our mind with all sorts of negative things, found for instance, in unwholesome films, TV, books and magazines and being in the company of people who are ruled by such things. One can easily think of lust here - images that captivate our minds and begin to tempt us to become involved in this type of thing. However, we can't just blame this area. There is also the case of our minds feeding things through our mouths such as, lies, criticism, arguing and judging. Then of course there is pride, envy and jealousy, caused by wanting what other people have and not being able to obtain it.
All of these cause us to have a stronghold that needs to be addressed. Firstly, I know I mention it a lot, but it is important, and that is putting on the armour of God. It is vital that we become dressed in this protection. Then we need to keep watch on what happens within our mind. A thought comes in and like a camera, an image is captured and before you know it, the image turns into a spoken word or action. Therefore, the armour is needed; prayer is essential and a sense of responsibility is required so that you are much more in touch with what is going on in your psyche.
To overcome this particular stronghold, doesn't happen overnight. It takes practice and dedication. It also takes prayer and a close relationship with Jesus. But, you can do this because God tells you you can Philippians 4:13.
Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard
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