Strongholds

Beyond Willpower: Embracing True Freedom

Feeling stuck, even when you're trying your hardest? This message dives deep into spiritual strongholds, exploring how our own willpower can unknowingly prevent freed2 Samuel 28:17, 2 Corinthians 10:3-6, Judges 6, Zechariah 4:6

Breaking Strongholds

Beyond Willpower: Embracing True Freedom

Willpower vs. Surrender

Often times we will try to rely on our own willpower instead of surrendering fully to Jesus. This resistance can unknowingly hinder the very freedom intended for us. The story of 2 Samuel 28:17 highlights the outcome of relying on one's own strength—destruction and failure. Saul's desperation, leading him to seek a medium after losing access to God's guidance, illustrates this. People may try to change course, only to find themselves tethered to old mindsets, like a boat tied to a dock. A lie accepted can transform the mind, evolving into deception, then a fixed mindset, and finally, a stronghold. To walk in freedom, it is essential to release these false truths and embrace the truth of God that Jesus has spoken over us.

Bondage vs. Battle

It is important not to confuse bondage with the battles we Face. While some attribute struggles to human nature or 'thorns in the flesh,' true bondage often stems from a sequence:

A lie is spoken, accepted, turns into a mindset, and finally becomes a stronghold. On the other hand, the battles of life—trials, tests, spiritual warfare—are normal for the believer. They should be expected! However, just because these battles are normative for us, that doesn’t mean that bondage is. We are called to fight for victory, not in our own strength, but in God's power.

What is a Stronghold?

According to 2 Corinthians 10:3-6, a stronghold is a spiritual fortress in the mind or heart—a system of thinking, a false belief standing in defiance of God. It's more than a bad habit or character flaw; it's a lie accepted, and a deception rooted, until it sounds like truth. Strongholds are built incrementally through things like pain, trauma, sin, and disappointment. Spiritually, they represent anything the adversary hides behind, knowingly or unknowingly protected, obstructing truth and fostering bondage.

The 5 Steps of a Stronghold:

1. A Lie Is Planted: ("You're not enough," "You don't need help," "This sin won't hurt you") are lies sown, often through trauma or failure.

2. The Lie Is Accepted: Instead of rejection, agreement ("This is just how I am") forms the initial chain.

3. Deception Takes Root: Life is filtered through the lie, distorting perceptions (e.g., believing we're unloved or unfree despite God's truth). The lie becomes our lens.

4. A False Mindset Is Formed: This deception evolves into a worldview, distorting perceptions of God, others, and self. This False-Truth rejects the True-Truth.

5. Bondage Follows: Individuals remain bound by fear, shame, sin, or rejection, lacking true freedom because the lie still governs their thoughts.

Consider Gideon (Judges 6). Addressed as a "mighty man of valor," he responded from a stronghold of fear and inferiority. Only after tearing down the altar of Baal was he raised as a deliverer. This highlights that for continued spiritual work, personal strongholds must first be demolished. You can’t expect to break external strongholds without first addressing internal ones.

Willpower vs. Truth

Surface-level approaches cannot break deep-seated strongholds. A particularly subtle and dangerous stronghold is self-reliance. This belief says you can achieve freedom through sheer effort whether by more prayer, reading, or performance. But through your own strength you won’t find true liberty. You will only find a prison built on pride.

This pride, often masked by religious outwardness, rejects the very sacrifice God already gave for us. The deception feels spiritual, yet it leaves us stuck in cycles of shame and pride, leading to denial, not deliverance.

Willpower does not break strongholds; TRUTH does. The cross represents a complete victory over sin and pride, not a motivational talk. Attempting to earn what He has already paid for, or refusing to confront hidden chains, perpetuates bondage. As you can see in the sermon, trying to hide your chains under your own self-righteousness will only make you appear foolish!

Many become more comfortable managing their bondage than receiving breakthrough. However, we area being called, at all times and especially in this season, to demolish strongholds, not manage them. You can try and hide your chains, but you’ll just end up exhausted as you attempt the work that only the Holy Spirit can complete. Where pride builds strongholds, surrender invites breakthrough.

Types of Strongholds

A list of common strongholds in believers' lives includes:

• Pride
• False identity
• Fear
• Shame
• Addiction (Food, lust, substance)
• Cycles (a state of perpetual discontent)
• Anxiety or control
• Sins of the flesh
• Religious legalism
• Unforgiveness or bitterness (leading to distrust and backbiting)
• Comparison or rejections
• Hopelessness or despair (often seen as a poverty mindset)

These are root lies that have hardened into mindsets, shaping how one perceives life, relates to God, and interacts with others. Crucially, these mindsets are not our God-given personality; they are counterfeit identities — alternate personalities — formed by wounds, lies, and adversarial influences. They do not reflect who God declares an individual to be.

The Simplicity of the Cross

The breaking of strongholds lies in the simplicity of the cross, empowered by TRUTH as revealed in Scripture. The initial step to dismantling unholy mindsets involves surrendering pride and self-reliant willpower that perpetuates cycles of bondage. This occurs through repentance, self-denial, and daily discipleship. To break free from old mindsets, one must embrace God's truth over falsehood. By abandoning personal understanding, ceasing to normalize bondage, and accepting the truth written in God's Word, strongholds can be demolished.

Personal Reflection

Are you ready to truly live in freedom? Understand that Jesus’ sacrifice wasn't so you could learn to cope with chains, but so you could break free from them entirely. Take a moment to pause. Be still. Listen. Allow God to speak to your heart and ask a crucial question: “What stronghold might you still be holding onto?”

In this holy moment, quiet your striving. Let insights surface, recognizing hidden roots for the first time. Whether you choose to kneel, stand, or simply sit in surrender, allow yourself to identify the specific chains that need to be broken. This is a personal call to action, an invitation to confront what has kept you bound.

Acknowledge any presence of pride, false identities, fear, shame, anxiety, control, or religious legalism that has masqueraded as truth. It's time to renounce these strongholds. Cast off deception, false mindsets, bitterness, and the temptation to rely solely on your own strength.

Where pride existed, embrace humility; where false identity lingered, affirm your new creation in Christ; where fear held sway, receive power, love, and a sound mind; where shame weighed heavily, know you will not be put to shame; where anxiety gripped, find peace guarding your heart and mind; where legalism constrained, step into the freedom Christ has provided.

Speak truth over every fortress, every root, and every lie that has tried to bind you. Trust that truth is actively demolishing these strongholds right now. Invite the Holy Spirit to rebuild ruins, bring beauty from ashes, and liberty from captivity. May the sound of freedom – chains falling, walls crumbling, lies breaking – resonate within you. Recognize Jesus as Deliverer and Truth. Today, choose to fully belong to Him!