It’s a given that the enemy of our souls will ambush us as we strive to reach our God-ordained destiny. Wounds are an inevitable aspect of warfare that can drive us to places never intended for us to go. Our life journey to destiny involves restoring our souls with the mind of Christ!
But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. ~ Romans 7:23
Unfortunately, these wounds can fester, allowing the enemy to use them against us, infecting us with bitter resentment towards those who have hurt us. The strange unconscious tendency is to actually provide the enemy a defense system, just like we do when we protect a wounded arm from someone else bumping into it. When we don’t allow Jesus to bring healing to our hurts, wounds and failures, we give Satan the opportunity to take hold of that part of our soul causing serious damage to our character, self-worth and ultimately our life mission. Only the Holy Spirit, through the blood of Christ can make us whole. When we look elsewhere for healing, our spiritual immune system breaks down, allowing more infectious disease to spread in us and infect the relationships around us. This kind of “soul disease” is very contagious. We try to medicate these “flesh-wounds” with “pain killers”—anything to give us some relief from what hurts inside. When situations or relationships arise that expose our insecurities and character flaws, we can be quick to justify our actions and even swift to fire back, especially if we think we are right! It’s important to know that being right does not bring healing in your life, nor will it bring restoration in your relationships, but being righteous does. This kind of righteousness comes through the Spirit of Christ. Much of our striving to do “good” and be right is our way of self-validating our significance and worth. We try to cover our flaws and pain, fight back to protect ourselves, strive to prove that we are worth something. But until we realize that our worth comes from our Creator who gave Himself for us to demonstrate how much He loves and values us, we will scramble within ourselves (and others) for that validation, leading to more hurt and wounds manipulated by the embedded control of the enemy. If you’re not prepared, then the enemy will have his way, causing more regret, shame, insecurities and strongholds.
Our victory over satan was confirmed through Calvary. Look deeper and you will see how and why this passion-play on the cross has significant implication for us today. We see all throughout Scripture that the gateway to our souls in through our mind. Jesus begins His ministry preaching to us to Repent—change our way of thinking. Our battle instructions are to “take every thought captive…” We are exhorted to “renew our minds…” The old becomes new because our past old self has been crucified with Christ. It can be painful to deal with our old nature when we have yet to be renewed from the past patterns of thinking. Is it any wonder that the crucifixion of Jesus took place at Golgotha—place of the skull. We are to have the mind of Christ as the Word of God commands, but even as Christians we tend to fall into our old habits and patterns of behavior. Below are a few steps that may be painful, but freeing—crucifying our past patterns for a renewed mind and spirit.
“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”~ Romans 12:2 NLT
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