OVERCOME EMOTIONAL STRONGHOLDS (1)

“Therefore, brethren, we are debtors – not to the FLESH, to live according to the FLESH” – Romans 8:12

Believers are empowered by God’s Word to OVERCOME EMOTIONAL STRONGHOLDS: “Therefore, brethren, we are debtors – not to the FLESH, to live according to the FLESH” (Rom.8:12). The devil often finds a ready accomplice in the FLESH – the unrenewed soul, using strongholds in the mind. These are lies that Satan tries to establish in our thinking that we count as true but are actually false beliefs. When we embrace these lies, they become a habitual pattern of thoughts built into our thought life, which affect our attitudes and behaviour adversely. This is particularly true of emotional strongholds such as anger, anxiety, defeatism, depression, discouragement, doubt, envy, fear, frustration, inferiority complex, poor self-esteem, rejection, a victim mentality, and other volatile feelings.

Floods of overwhelming emotions can create frustration and distraction, leading to unproductive hours or days. God redeemed us to be Overcomers who walk, not under the control of our emotions, but by the Power of the Holy Spirit. We cannot be led by His Spirit if our emotions are in the driver’s seat! That was our story before redemption: “among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind…” (Eph.2:3). We no longer have to live imprisoned by our emotions, but empowered by God’s Word and the Holy Spirit (vv.5-6).

An emotional stronghold is an attitude or emotion that stays with one, day in and day out. It does more than just show up from time to time. It dictates and often dominates one’s thoughts, choices, and life itself. People dealing with emotional strongholds usually know it. When they wake up in the morning, they say “Good Lord, it’s morning” rather than “Good morning, Lord.” They struggle simply to survive, often living in a perpetual state of despair, hopelessness, or worry. God never ordained for us to wake up every day depressed or to always be paralyzed by fear. He didn’t create us to carry anger or bitterness around for days or months. God promised us a full life in Christ (Jh.10:10).

Of course, emotions are not necessarily bad. While in this earthen vessel, we’ll always have emotions. They make us human. God has emotions too; and He gave us emotions. They are part of our soul. Emotions may actually alert us to needs within our soul, but they are not a reliable source of truth. When our emotions become strongholds, taking over the steering of life or the driver’s seat of our decisions, they can create problems. God loves us and wants us to be led by the Holy Spirit in order to fulfil His purpose. But we also have an enemy that’s determined to distract and derail us from doing this, by using lies to create emotional strongholds in our lives, to pull us away from purpose.

Overcoming emotional strongholds demands going deeper than just superficial feelings, to discover the root cause behind them. While some emotional issues are tied to physiological causes, such as a chemical imbalance, which should be addressed physically, many emotional strongholds are rooted in sin or an environment contaminated by sin, which someone calls “atmospheric sin”! An environment deeply contaminated by sin leads to a greater susceptibility to emotional strongholds. For example, strongholds of fear, guilt, insecurity, or shame can be created in a child that was abused, raped, betrayed in a relationship, or unwanted.

Three broad categories of emotional strongholds are: (a) those rooted in our past; (b) those that are part of our present; and (c) those involving the fear of the future. In Christ, we can experience freedom from the futile and fruitless task of denying or suppressing emotional strongholds through distractions, entertainment, pills, or drugs. Also, our goal is not to become emotionless, but to overcome manifestations of uncontrolled emotions. The big choice is: Who will be in the driver’s seat, our feelings or God’s Word, inspired by His Spirit? Believers are to be led by the Holy Spirit, not driven by unrestrained emotions (v.14). “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit…” (v.16a).