6/30/24
We’re in a message series called, “Lies we believe.” Today the lie is, “This is just the way I am.” I can’t change! I’ve tried to change, but I just can’t do it! That lie that can hold us back from what we hope and dream of. It can hold us back from experiencing what God can do through us. We talk ourselves into believing we are powerless, instead of believing, like the Apostle Paul says in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!” He wrote that and believed it while he was in prison!
So many times, each of us has changed! When you were little you started school. That was a huge change. Over and over you have learned something new: like how to play baseball, or you learned a new job. When you started you probably thought, I’ll never get this! But most of the time, you learn. You change!
Covid was a time we had to change or get very sick or die!
We weren’t happy, but we went through a lot of change very quickly.
So why do we believe the lie, “This is just the way I am, I can’t change!” We believe it because there are some changes that are tougher to manage. For these changes we need God’s help! We’re looking today at the Apostle Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 10:3-4, “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.” Paul says followers of Jesus have better weapons when it comes to change. We have “divine power.” God is powerful, his help is like dynamite, to demolish strongholds. What’s a stronghold? Paul uses a word that means sort of a strong castle, which is hard to overcome. Paul realizes there are things we want to change, that are like strong castles. They are a tough opponent. You can’t overcome on your own. You need divine power! You need God!
Even though you have come through many challenges in life, there are some things that are very hard to change. Paul calls them strongholds. There are different kinds of stronghold. One stronghold that can be hard to overcome is a relational stronghold. I have a friend who was married and divorced 3 times. I will never be able to make a marriage last. Or there are People who say “I just can’t open up to people. I’ve trusted people and they hurt me. It will always be really hard for me to make friends.” You might have a relational stronghold that is very real.
There is a habits stronghold. Like, “I smoke and no matter how hard I try I can’t stop.” “I need to gamble, often!” Or “I drink too much.” “I spend too much time looking at a screen.” If you have a habits stronghold, God can set you free!
You could have a Mental Stronghold. “I have a temper. I get angry, then I regret the things I have said to people.” Or “I’m like Eeyore, I always have a negative outlook on life.” Or “Over and over I remind the people around me of all their faults and failures. I can’t help myself!”
There is a Spiritual Stronghold. You might say, “I want to pray, but when I try, I fall asleep.” Or “I believe God answers your prayers, but not mine.” Or “I’m on fire for God, I’ve got a plan to go through the Bible in a year, I’m praying and reading the Bible for three weeks, then I stop.”
A Financial Stronghold can be hard to overcome. You might feel, “I’ll always be in debt and worried about money. I’ll never have enough!” Maybe finances are a stronghold you struggle with.
This last one is a physical stronghold. You say, “I don’t like the way I look, and I never have.” “I’ve got hair in places I don’t want it, and I don’t have hair where I do want it!” You’re not happy with your body and you think you can’t change how you feel. Or you know you’d feel better if you exercised, but you just can’t start.
You have a stronghold. And you believe there’s no hope. It’s like you’re saying to God, “God, even you can’t change me! I’m just the way I am!” Which is an insult to God! God can change anything in you that is not of Him.
So today we are going to learn how to surrender the lie, that I’m just the way I am, and let the Apostle Paul help us make a change for God and for good! In 2 Corinthians 10:5 Paul says we demolish arguments and everything that sets itself up against the knowledge of God. Then Paul says, “We take captive every thought and make it obedient to God.”
What’s the strategy? First, we are going to learn, with God’s help, to capture wrong thoughts. Any thought that is inconsistent with God’s word, we are not going to allow to continue on in our mind. Paul is our coach. He says “We take captive every thought to make it obedient to God.”
Me, a stronghold I have is negative thinking. I’m like Eeyore, but I know all things are possible with God. So, I’m going to Capture thoughts, such as “I have too much to do.” or “This situation isn’t going to work out well.” Or “Life is just hard.” I’m capturing negative thoughts. They are opposed to God. Paul says In Romans 8, “We are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”
Second, we will release the right words. In Phil. 4:13, Paul says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” I release words that show faith in God. I say instead, “I can do everything that needs to be done, because God strengthens me!”
This is not just positive thinking. It’s believing: God is with me, I’m a conqueror. We capture wrong thoughts, and release words of faith. It’s not just you trying harder to change. It’s not just God changing you, while you sit back and don’t do anything. No, it’s a team. It’s God and you; you changing your thoughts, and the divine power of God demolishing strongholds.
Our thoughts are so important! Thoughts come first, then emotions follow. Faith is not an emotion. Faith is a decision to stand on God’s word. If you change your thoughts and expectations, it’s more likely you can change. If you think you can stop smoking, you’re more likely to be able to.
So we capture our thinking that feeds those strongholds, and allow God to renew our minds. Then we release right words. You capture wrong thoughts like, “I don’t exercise, it’s just the way I am.” And release right words. “I get up early every day and I love to exercise.” Maybe you need to say it until you feel it!
Now, in the power of God, I’m thinking more positively, believing good things are ahead. My mind is being renewed by the power of God.
My homework for you is to think of what you want to change, that you haven’t been able to before. Capture your wrong thoughts, and release new thoughts, words of faith.
“I’m just the way I am” is a lie. Don’t believe it! Make a decision to stand in faith that with God, all things are possible! Put your faith in what God and you can do together to make a change and bring a new day! Amen.
Maureen Duffy-Guy's blog 