It has been several years now since I first listened to teaching about strongholds in a Christian’s life; my first reaction was something akin to, “I’m saved, filled with the Spirit, so no problems here!”  Time has shown me something different—as long as we are in these bodies and in this world we have the capacity to sin; and when we sin we have the capacity to develop strongholds in our attitudes, our actions, or our beliefs.

 Paul addresses the problem in his second letter to the church at Corinth:  “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.  For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).

 Spiritual strongholds are well-fortified beliefs, attitudes, or patterns of behavior that contradict the Word of God, His identity, and His character—while our minds are the primary battlefields, spiritual battles can only be fought with spiritual weapons such as Scripture enlivened by the Holy Spirit, faith, prayer – and repentance. 

 I started tearing down spiritual strongholds (though I didn’t realize it at the time) when I began confronting doctrines from my upbringing that could not stand alone on the Bible without the underpinning of “supplementary” books and teachings.  I also remember in the early 1990s, when I was a single mom with 3 kids, confronting a stronghold of unbelief.  I looked at scriptures such as this one:  “Do not worry, saying ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ …For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things” (Matthew 6:31-34), and realized that I had the choice to believe my circumstances or believe the Bible.

 Not having my prayers answered in ways that I hoped or expected, often brought me to a point of introspection of “what have I done wrong?” or “there must be sin in my life”; however, scripture confirms our responsibility to seek God’s kingdom and His righteousness rather than our own.  The stories of Joseph and Job also affirm that we do not have to do anything wrong for adversity to arise—instead, we are presented with opportunities to grow in the grace and knowledge of God’s faithfulness to care for us.  In fact, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all” (Psalm 34:19).

 …which brings me to the stronghold of self-righteousness.  I think most people recognize Pharisaical self-righteousness, characterized by the attitude, “God, I thank You that I am not like other men” (Luke 18:11), or the rather naïve confession of the rich young ruler, “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth” (Mark 10:20); yet it is easy to forget that law-keeping and behavior modification hint of self-righteousness rather than God-righteousness.  It is by grace we are saved, through faith—salvation is God’s gift to us because “good” is not inherent within us (Romans 3:10); and it is God’s Spirit who changes us “through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5).

 Fear is a powerful stronghold that keeps people in bondage instead of experiencing the freedom we have in Jesus:  “For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father!’” (Romans 8:15).  Fear has many faces—one I have struggled with is the fear of deprivation, which often fuels a stronghold of covetousness or a longing for more than I need—more food, more clothes, more electronic devices, or the latest updates, the list goes on…

 Strongholds frequently are built on the permissions we give ourselves; “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey…” (Romans 6:16).  Yet Jesus came to set us free, “to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound” (Isaiah 61:1).  We also have Jesus’ declaration, “If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:36).  It is a process of staying close to Jesus, though – “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples, indeed.  And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31, 32).

 I am learning some of my own stronghold triggers; they usually start with “I need…” (a drink, chocolate, a new iPhone…) instead of, “I need Jesus, who supplies my every need” and “I need the Holy Spirit who works in me to will and to work for His good pleasure; often “I need…” means “I want…!”  The epistle of James addresses this issue, “You lust and do not have.  You murder and covet and cannot obtain.  You fight and war.  Yet you do not have because you do not ask.  You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures” (James 4:2, 3).

 Sometimes I protest “I can’t…” while the Holy Spirit is gently whispering “You can!” (Philippians 4:13).  And other times I stubbornly seek to defend “my rights”, forgetting that Jesus gave up all of His rights for me.  

 These strongholds in no way comprise a complete list of my struggles; in fact, one of the most insidious strongholds I have battled is a judgmental, critical attitude. I can easily trace it back to my family growing up, though I can judge no one nor blame anyone for my sins.  I am grateful that God is so gracious to equip us with mighty weapons to pull down strongholds.  Taking my thoughts captive by speaking scripture into my fears and the broken places of my life works powerfully to counteract the inaccurate messages my circumstances, my thoughts, and my attitudes send me—which is why knowing scripture is so essential!

 Confession – “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). …and repentance—“Let us search out and examine our ways, and turn back to the Lord; let us lift our hearts and hands to God in heaven” (Lamentations 3:40, 41), which speaks of completely surrendering my soul and body to God.

 Most of what I write in this blog directly reflect the things God is teaching me and the work He is accomplishing in my life—this one is no exception.  The hope I have for myself and all of God’s people is that we will continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.