Do you have tapes running through your head that you’d like
to change? I sometimes struggle with doubt, discouragement and discontentment.
Is that just me or do you sometimes battle similar thoughts? I also compare
myself and my circumstances with other people and their circumstances. One
problem with comparison is that I always compare my greatest weakness to
someone else’s greatest strength. For instance, when I compare my derriere to
Jennifer Lopez’s I feel inferior every time. (What I wouldn’t do for a JLo body
– probably too much info for some of you.)
As much as I don’t like those tapes that lead to comparison
and discontentment, I often have a hard time changing them. Like an old pair of
jeans, they become so comfortable it’s hard to throw them out, even when its
time.
So, how do I change those comfortable, worn-out
conversations that play in my head? According to Scripture, I declare war on
them. I wish I could change my thought life through passive resistance. Unfortunately,
that doesn’t work. Freedom from dominating thought patterns is won on the
battlefield. Ask anyone who has served our country in war and they’ll tell you
freedom doesn’t just happen. The freedom you and I enjoy was fought for and our
freedom is a result of someone else’s victory.
The same thing is true in our spiritual lives. Our freedom
is a result of Jesus’ victory on the cross. But, we must be willing to defend
that freedom by going to battle. The apostle Paul understood this battlefield
mentality. He knew what it was to engage in the spiritual battle of the mind.
In Ephesians 6:12 he said this:
For
our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against
the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual
force of wickedness in the heavenly places.
The word translated “struggle”
in this verse is the Greek word “pale”
which means “wrestling or hand to hand
combat.” It is “a contest between two
in which each endeavors to subdue the other and which is decided when the
victor is able to hold his opponent down with his hand upon his neck.”
What a great picture of the spiritual battle. When we seek
to combat thoughts that lead to discontentment and discouragement we are
engaging in hand-to-hand combat. We are wrestling the lies and their author to
the ground and pinning them to the mat. When we wrap our hands around our enemy’s
neck God declares us victors.
This week I am attacking the lies that lead to insecurity in
my appearance. Specifically, I am going to battle against any thought that says
I don’t measure up to the world’s standard of beauty. The ammunition I am using
in this attack is Song of Solomon 4:1 where God declares:
“How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how
beautiful!
Regardless of the shape of my
figure, or the size of my nose, or the curves on my backside, God considers me
beautiful and I am “fearfully and wonderfully made” by Him (Psalm 139:14). The
same is true of you.
How about you? What insecurity would
you like to experience victory over? Take it from me, there is no greater
feeling than the confidence that comes when we wrestle our thoughts and win.
There’s nothing like pinning a long-held lie to the mat and hearing God declare you the victor.