I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how a specific sin can truly dictate an individual’s life.
For many who know me, they know I LOVE the Enneagram. (and basically all other personality assessments) The Enneagram is made up of 9 numbers, each number having a basic drive in life and also a root sin. I could go on and on about it, but I definitely encourage you to look it up and its spiritual roots of development.
The root sins are anger/resentment, pride, deceit, envy, greed, fear, gluttony, lust, and sloth. Naturally, we can certainly struggle with more than one of them— I know I certainly do— but it’s fascinating to look at my life and see just how often if my negative thoughts creep into my mind or if I begin to be moody for some reason, it’s because of my root sin and struggle.
So, I’ve been thinking quite a bit about what it means to break these strongholds, and what it takes to do so. With the Holy Spirit inside of us, sanctifying us more and more, I believe that we are able to be free. Even if not on this earth, we will see the fruits of it all in the Kingdom of eternity.
1) Identify your strongholds. I ask the Holy Spirit so often to just help me rid of my resentful, bitter, angry, fearful, prideful, and self-pitying thoughts, words, and actions. I want to be so free of these things forevermore, but a good start to being free is asking the Lord to identify what it is of which you need to be free. Without identifying our sins, we continue to be ruled by them. We could be in denial that they’re even there. Or we could be not-so-blissfully ignorant of what it is that has a stronghold in our lives. Either way, as followers of Christ, the only way to truly be healed from a major illness is not to bandage it but to deeply and uniquely treat the root from the inside out. Throughout this journey, I believe I’ve basically had an 11-month operation (a small part of my lifelong treatment), as God has diagnosed more and more of who I don’t want to be. But thanks be to God that our God doesn’t leave us there— the Great Physician then heals us and sanctifies us and calls us to higher things of who we’ve been created to be.
2) Share your strongholds with people you trust. So, not only do we ask the Lord to identify our struggles, but then it’s an ongoing battle to choose to bring them into the light. Wrestling with this sin and with our flesh is so very difficult. I just want to be free of it! There are struggles that I think I’m totally done with and completely taken care of and then they sneak back into my mind and heart before I know it. When a resentful thought creeps into my mind or if I feel myself being hindered by fear, I can almost feel the Holy Spirit wrestling with them inside of me. Sometimes I think about the Harry Potter scene(s) where he’s wrestling between transforming into Voldemort and staying himself. (Stay with me; I promise it’s relevant.) He knows he wants to be free of the qualities of You-Know-Who, and sometimes he’s so very frustrated because he can’t even explain his actions.
For Harry, because of the concern of his friends, he often hides these moments of connection. These times of struggle make him doubt who he is and make him wonder if he really is evil like He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. And for me, gosh, I do the same. Because of my perfectionistic tendencies, I would much rather handle a struggle on my own or keep it bottled up for ages before I truly cry out for help. However, the longer we keep things hidden in the darkness, the more foothold we give the enemy. It is when we bring in the Light— he who “shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5)— that something truly starts to change.
3) Be patient with yourself. For those with a perfectionistic mindset like mine (which I know many can relate to), it means you are your own worst and toughest critic. However, if the Lord, the perfect God of the universe, Who is endless in grace and mercy toward us, then how much more should we be able to forgive ourselves?! When we ask for forgiveness from God, it’s over and done with, our slate is wiped clean. We do not take advantage of this grace, but we are able to let our mistakes go and move forward in the perfect purpose and glory that the Lord is so ready to reveal to us little by little as we grow and press on.
4) Take care of yourself. It’s always important to find that balance between self-care and self-indulgence, of course, but I believe that there are many of us who could do a much better job of simply finding joy in the little and big things of life. Another important part of knowing yourself well is knowing what brings you job and then making time for it. It could be a proper amount of sleep, exercise, reading a good book, spending quality time with the people you love (all of these are important to me!), and the list is endless. By knowing what it is that brings you joy, you are armed against these strongholds of your life. My negative emotions are sometimes armed and ready to command my mind, but when I know how to step back with a clear mind and heart and say, “No, today is good, and the Lord is good,” then I know that the strongholds are that much looser. When I have little joys to look forward to, and when I am content in each day with a thankful heart my whole outlook is different. Jesus delights in us so dearly, beyond what we could ever ask of imagine, so just try to imagine the smile on His face when He sees each of our unique interests and talents coming to fruition for His glory.
Oh, how much farther I have to go when it comes to being made perfect in Christ, but these are just a few of the edifying steps I’ve learned along my journey in life and especially in these almost 11 months. The heart of Jesus is for the freedom of His followers, and I know that He desires each and every one of you to break free from the strongholds of your life. I’ll continue to pray for you, and I ask for your prayers, too- in life and in these last 10 days on this life-changing Race!
