As humans, humans who never want to be wrong in situations, humans who love to rationalise everything 'in favour of ourselves', it is very easy for us to suffer from negative mentatlity strongholds, that many do not fix or not at least until it is too late.
So what is a mentality stronghold?
A mentality stronghold is a mentality that has usually been developed or established from a young age and has become unmoved as we grow and endear to this mentality. Today I want to talk about negative mentality strongholds and how to break from this.
I have started listening to an audiobook on youtube called 'Battlefield of the Mind' by Joyce Meyers (my queen and inspiration for this blog) and she gave an example of someone with a negative mentality stronghold:
So let's take Jane. Jane has three kids and a husband called Bob. Despite being a Christian, thus learning the ways of love, etc, she has a rebellious nature, is controlling, takes control of things like the bills and other affairs of the house and does not have the submissive spirit she should have for her husband Bob, (submissive not slave, feminists don't @ me pls lol x), which means she is in constant conflict with him.
- When Jane was younger she was abused by her father, who would only treat her brother nicely. Consequently, Jane's mindset was "men really think they are something, they are all alike, you can't trust them, they will hurt you and take advantage of you, they can treat people anyhow and no one, especially wive and daughters, can do anything about it".
So upon leaving her family home, Jane resolved that no one was going to push her around again. This is Jane's mentality stronghold.
Because of this, Jane can not and does not allow Bob to fulfill his role as a husband and father; because of the abuse Jane suffered, Jane is now somewhat 'compensating' this through her actions in her new home. Jane does not want to be like this but because of this mentality stronghold, she can not control her thoughts and because she can not control her thoughts, she can not control her actions.
Right so where am I going with this? Due to traumatising, insistent, repetitive, seemingly inescapable, bad things that happen in our life, we are guilty of allowing this to create negative mentality strongholds in our lives, which is 'concreted' by evil counsel like the devil and other influences.
QUICK DEVIATION!! That is why picking the right friends is so important because people are really ignorant and carnal. Jane, for example, probably expressed these feelings to her friends, who probably agreed with her and gave their own experiences of life further plunging her into a state of dejection (lol I'm so moist, blame Percy Shelley #EdexcelEnglishLeaveMeAlone).
- "Yeah Jane do what's best for you, only you can turn things around", "Life is so UnFaIr"
NO!! Many people act and counsel based on their 'desires' in life and not on what is right and edifying.
Can you believe how many people have encouraged to lie to my mum about things?!! Everyday lie this, lie that. No. Decorum. What. So. Ever. Is it right? Is it edifying? Or are you being moved by your DESIRES.
Anyhoo back on track, from the point of Jane's decision, her mentality was rooted n negativity, fear and anger, which jeapordised any chance to move from her past experiences, and she found that in her new home she was now in the same vicious cycle.
(I was going to use an analogy of Yewande but I don't want any arguments lol, just use your imagination)
Though it may seem to Jane that her mentality is protecting her, it is in fact doing the opposite and the danger is that as Jane has fed into this mentality, it has become a STRONGHOLD. And strongholds take time to break.
- Yes Jane is right in feelings those things, yes she is the victim in her past but sadly in this world, the world does not care about our past but happens to us 'as it pleases'. It is just like being angry at someone, though we want the other person to feel our anger, really and truly, the only person it is affecting is us, manifested through things like physical and mental weariness.
So now applying it to young people. Everyone who knows me knows I say this all the time and I will continue to say this until the day the Lord comes, if you are in a permanent state of negativity. nothing will work for you and I literally mean nothing. as in. nothing.
Too many people have a mentality stronghold such as: I've never done well, so I will never do well. Everyone fails this exam, so it's okay if I do (I am wholeheartedly @ing every maths and science student right now, bunch of neeks). Success isn't for people like me. So and so will always do better.
Well, let me tell y'all something. This may have been your past and if you decide to let those instances form your mentality and transform into a stronghold, then of course it will be your past, present and future. Not because your mentality is right but because of how you have decided to act on these thoughts of fear and doubt. You've given it the key to your mind, and let all its brothers and sisters move in.
My mentor said this in Church today and was like, wow: "When you justify your weakness, they become you" (Ngl, this is how I chose to remember it)
I think a way to break this stronghold is through deliberate thinking. This means thinking a certain way irrespective of your present condition in sight, or in hope of a 'greater later'. Jane's problem meant that she had conflict with her husband that she tried to avoid and ironically, she was right to say her mindset was correct though being the cause of it. What Jane and we need to do is not feed ourselves on things that fuel our mindsets and believe our 'greatest self' in reality. But because this is a stronghold, we need to be diligent and this is where deliberate thinking comes into play. Jane may try to think differently and after one slip up, she throws in the towel. Despite a time of a slip up, Jane needs to actively and diligently think positively as this is not natural for her, negativity is.
Mentality strongholds are especially dangerous as it becomes a 'part of us', and it is hard to realise you have it. Start by assessing if you have a stronghold mentality that is influenced by everyday events as opposed to a vision of your 'greatest self' and if it feeds into your feelings of pain, fear and victimization
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IMPORTANT: if anybody has art work or photography they would like to showcase please send them to me, want to include them in my blogs!!
- Proverbs 23:7- "For as he thinks within himself, so is he"
- Joyce Meyer- Battlefield of the mind: https://youtu.be/gQnwFJtbVno
- 2 Corinthians 10:4-5, 4 "The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds".
(5 "We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ").
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