The mind is undoubtedly an amazing thing. It is extremely complex. It is often disobedient. It is all over the place. It feels uncontrollable at times – in fact, much of the time for me. My mind goes a thousand miles a minute and often to places where it is not good for it to go. I just saw a post on Facebook that said, My mind is like an internet browser. 17 tabs are open, 4 of them are frozen and I don’t know where the music is coming from. In my case, that’s about right! Most, if not all, of our mess, originates in our minds. In this chapter, we will further explore the mind and the strongholds that can develop.
I have often wished that I had the mind of a dog. Have you ever seen the meme where a guy is sitting beside a dog looking over a pond? The guy has a bubble over his head with pictures of numerous things that are running through it. I bet there would be even more if he were female! The dog just has a picture of the pond in his bubble. I cannot say 100% what goes through a dog’s mind, but I would bet that it is much simpler and, in the moment, than what goes through the human mind. We, as humans, think a lot. Experts believe that we think somewhere between 60,000 to 80,000 thoughts per day. That is a lot of thoughts!
I remember hiking with my husband one day. I asked him what he was thinking about. He replied, “I’m thinking about where I am going to put my pole next.” I had already done a review of the last few years, worried about my kids’ futures, and planned our next vacation and we were only twenty minutes in. So, I guess he may think kind of like a dog, but most of us don’t. He also says that he doesn’t dream while I have crazy, jacked-up dreams. My mind is still going even when I’m sleeping. I dreamed about a talking skunk and platypuses running around in my backyard the other night. Analyze that!
Our thoughts pretty much control our lives. Henry Ford said, “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.” Until I started researching the topic and praying about it, I thought that there was nothing that could be done to control the mind. Thankfully, I discovered that it is possible to learn how to guard it, strengthen it, and renew it.
The Apostle Paul challenges us to “not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of our minds” (Romans 12:1-2). The Greek word for renew is anakainosis and it means renovation. We have recently been doing some renovations to update and upgrade our home. I can tell you that my mind needs an “extreme home makeover.” I have made progress but still need serious work. What kind of renovation does your mind need – extreme or just a few upgrades?
Our minds are the first thing that Satan goes after. Paul says, “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).
Paul mentioned strongholds. What are strongholds? Dictionary.com defines a stronghold as a place where a particular cause or belief is strongly defended or upheld. In short, it is a mindset or attitude. There are many strongholds that we may experience including comparison, fear, guilt, pride, materialism, and more.
We aren’t born with these strongholds. We accumulate them through our life events and experiences, and Satan’s deceitful guidance. Strongholds are often manifested as damaged thought patterns that play like a broken record in our minds. For example, let’s say that a close friend or family member deeply betrayed your trust and hurt you. The enemy then whispers that you cannot trust anyone, so you develop trust issues which then result in an unwillingness to trust God’s promises in your life.
Second Corinthians 4:4 says, “The god of this age [a reference to Satan and his demons] has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” If this is his approach for those that aren’t Christians, it stands to reason that his strategy in the lives of Christians is to confuse, frustrate, and separate us from God. And he does this largely through strongholds.
Here are three questions to ask yourself to help you get to the root of your strongholds. What is a constant battleground in my life? What unhealthy habit or unhealthy thought pattern has a hold on me? What do I constantly struggle with?
At the foundation of many of our strongholds is a desire to want to prove our significance and value, often because we don’t feel that we’re worthy of love, acceptance, or success. However, we must acknowledge that our value is not determined by whether people like us or not, nor is it determined by our performance or worldly success. It is established by who we are in Christ.
Paul gives us the formula to test our thoughts. You will Philippians 4:8 tells us to think about things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and worthy of praise. I like the Message’s translation of this, it tells us to fill our minds with the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.
What can you do to renew and declutter your messy mind to deal with strongholds? Here are five general tips. More specific tips on each stronghold will be shared in the respective chapters.
- Foster awareness and acknowledgment of your strongholds
As with any issue we may face, the first step to recovery is awareness and acknowledgment of the problem, and a desire to truly change. Ask God to show you your strongholds and the resulting negative thought patterns that exist in your life. Pray the following Psalms:
Psalm 69:5: You God, know my folly; my guilt is not hidden from thee.
Psalm 19:12: But who can discern their own errors? Forgive my hidden faults.
When He reveals or confirms these negative patterns, don’t shift the blame to others. Ask God to forgive you for believing the lies that have created your strongholds and for reacting in ungodly ways.
- Fill your mind with good stuff and take out the bad stuff
As was mentioned, Paul tells us to “renew our minds” and we can do that through a steady intake of God’s Word. In 1 Peter 2:2, Peter calls Christians to “crave the spiritual milk so that by it you may grow up in your salvation.” Think about the things that you are filling your mind with – television, social media, the news, books, etc. Have you ever heard the term, garbage in garbage out? That’s how it works with our minds. If you fill it with garbage, the result will be garbage. For some reason, this is bringing up images of Oscar the Grouch. As I’ve said, crazy mind.
Proverbs 15:14 says, “The discerning heart seeks knowledge but the mouth of a fool feeds on folly.” We should read our Bibles and fill our minds with knowledge and positive things. I’m a fine example! Earlier this evening, I was watching The Bachelorette while scrolling through social media, but at least I am acknowledging the problem.
- Recognize and reject Satan’s lies
We have maintained that Satan tempts and troubles us by putting ideas and thoughts in our minds. He does this by preying on our struggles and past hurts. Let’s just call this what it is – lies. Recognize and reject his lies and replace them with God’s truth (look for passages to support His truth). I know my thoughts are often coming from a place of feeling like I’m not good enough. And I now have my go-to bible verses to help me overcome this narrative.
In 2 Corinthians 10:5, we are told to take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. This indicates that we have the power to do something about it. If I have an ungodly thought, I try to redirect myself and say, “get away Satan” and ask God for the strength to help me overcome. Helpful tip – you may want to say “get away Satan” to yourself or it may generate unwanted attention. But, if you do it in Walmart, no one will notice, too many other distractions.
In Romans 7:19, Paul says “For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing.” I feel you, Paul. The struggle is real! But we can begin to make progress, one thought at a time.
- Overcome the negative narratives that are guiding your life
In the book, Enough: Silencing the Lies That Steal Your Confidence, Sharon Jaynes suggests trying to recognize I AM NOT thoughts and speech and switch them with I AM. When you say, “I AM NOT smart enough,” mentally change this to “I AM” smart enough.” Sharon suggests “spotting the nots” in your life, swatting them out of your mind, and replacing them with the truth.
Think about the destructive narratives that you tell yourself and focus on “spotting the nots” over the coming weeks.
- Focus on the good things/blessings around you
Have you ever noticed that people tend to focus on the negative? This is called the negativity bias and we, as humans, are wired that way. This bias is hardwired into our human nature and is designed to protect us. In ancient times, our ancestors were frequently exposed to threats like predators and being more attentive to negative stimuli helped them survive. Since our world has evolved, we aren’t frequently faced with imminent danger like being chased by lions, tigers, and bears. Although who knows with the way the world has been going the last few years!
That said, it is important to shift your mind towards gratitude for things like eyes to see, ears to hear, family, friends, a place to live, and the beauty of nature. Keeping a gratitude journal and recording things that you are thankful for each day can be helpful. Lately, I have taken to identifying five things in the morning that I am grateful for and five additional things before I go to bed. I have observed that coffee and my dogs come up a lot, especially in the morning. Occasionally, my husband and kids make the list.
In conclusion, strongholds are frequently the root of many of the issues that we need to declutter from our lives. We will be exploring twelve of the most common strongholds in this book and provide some specific suggestions that hopefully will help you to conquer them.
