Tearing Down Mental 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 10:5
The imagery Paul uses in 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 relates not to defensive armor but to battering-ram offensive weaponry. He is not using the conventional weapons of this world to tear down strongholds but the divine weapons at our disposal. These strongholds are not physical barriers that fortify a city. They are mental strongholds raised up against the knowledge of God. We can tear them down because we have the mind of Christ (see 1 Corinthians 2:16) and the Spirit of truth within us.
Research shows that we form attitudes and beliefs early in our childhood. We are not physically born with the presence of God in our lives, so we absorb these mental attitudes from our environment in two primary ways. First, we assimilate them into our minds through prevailing experiences such as the homes in which we were raised, the schools we attended, and the neighborhoods in which we played. These values and attitudes are more caught than taught. Different children respond to the same environment in different ways; therefore, every child’s mental evaluation is different. Second, we develop mental strongholds through traumatic experiences like the death of a parent, divorce in the home, or various kinds of mental and physical abuse. We are not in bondage to traumatic experiences; we are in bondage to the lies we believed as a result of those experiences.
Strongholds are mental habit patterns of thought. Some call them “flesh patterns.” These strongholds are memory traces burned into our minds over time or by the intensity of traumatic experiences. They are similar to what psychologists call defense mechanisms, and they always reveal themselves in a less-than-Christlike temperament. They are like deep tire tracks in a wet pasture. After the ruts have been established and dried over time, the driver doesn’t have to steer anymore. The vehicle will just follow those ruts, and any attempt to steer out of them will be met with resistance. If we follow those neurological pathways for six consecutive weeks, a habit will be established. If the habit persists, a stronghold will form.
For example, an inferiority complex is a mental stronghold. Nobody is born inferior to another, but in this competitive world, it is almost impossible not to feel inferior to someone who is smarter, faster, stronger and prettier. Negative self-perceptions can only be torn down in Christ. In the kingdom of God, everybody has equal value. God loves each of His children the same, and we are not in competition with one another.
Another example would be the unhealthy characteristics exhibited by children of an alcoholic. Suppose the oldest child chooses to stand up to his father when he comes home drunk. The middle son accommodates his father. The youngest son runs and hides. Twenty years later, those three boys are confronted by a hostile situation. Chances are the oldest son will fight, the middle son will accommodate, and the youngest son will run and hide. We learn mental strongholds like these over time as we interact with our environment, but they can be torn down in Christ.
If we have been trained wrongly, can we be retrained? If we have believed a lie, can we now believe the truth? If we have programmed our minds wrongly, can they be reprogrammed? Of course! We are transformed by the renewing of our minds.
a few questions to ponder:
What are the “weapons” to which Paul refers in 2 Corinthians 10:15? What do they have the power to do?
What are the two primary ways in which we form attitudes and beliefs early in our childhood?
How can we overcome flesh patterns/defense mechanisms?
How can you tell when your response to others is a flesh pattern?
Now that you are a new creation in Christ, why don’t you need old defense mechanisms such as lying, blaming or denying?
Neil T. Anderson is the founder of Freedom in Christ Ministries. He began the ministry in 1989 and continues to spread the message of freedom to this day.