by revelife crewContinuing to talk about how Scripture applies to our lives –
Please share if and how this passage reminds you of any life lessons, relates to a current situation, or just what it means to you.
I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world. For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 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. – 2 Corinthians 10:2–5
Comments (10)
I think that means to me. That I need to try to keep my thoughts and actions that of Christ. I need to do my best to live like Him. At my babtism, I was taught, I am taking on Christ's name. I have also been taught(not sure how i feel about this one) every time I sin, I am the one putting Him up on the cross. I believe the weapons Paul was speaking about was prayer and the Holy Ghost. That He wants us to rely on those during times when we are under attack. Because later in Ephesians He talks about the armour of God in chapter 6 verses 12-18.
hmm I would take it as... we shouldn't fall in the face of adversity. even when things get so extremely tough and people turn against us because of our faith or other reasons, we need to stick to the Truth. it may seem like doing so is just hurting us but that's the whole struggle right? in the long run we'll understand.
To me this means: We are to be different, to be set apart from the world. Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, and we don't use the weapons that the world does. Our strength is in God, so we are much more powerful than the world through Him!
I have many, but the most notable that comes to mind when having these Revelife discussions is this one...
Matthew 5:9
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Isn't that the verse about us not fighting about flesh and blood but rather principalities?
Oh I like this section of the Bible
I've been trying to explain to some people lately how we can't try to prove we (as christians) are right because "The Bible says so" to people that aren't christians and don't accept the Bible as fact. We need to be able to talk to them in love and understanding, not get into a "GOD SAYS SO" arguing match.
I think that tells us that we are supposed to use Christianity to change the world towards Christianity. Not a very PC thing.
I love this! Sometimes I stress when I am bold in my speech regarding right and wrong. This tells me that Paul was hoping he would not have to be. That is my desire, to speak truth with love.
"We take captive every thought. . ." Romans 12:1 and following about renewing of the mind fits like a hand in a glove.
This scripture speaks directly to me in relation to some Christian counseling my husband and I had earlier this year. We went because my husband had suffered severe anxiety attacks for which he was hospitalized and put on several medications. However, after reading through Neal T Anderson's book Bondage Breaker, my husband realized his anxieties and fears were the result of a spiritual attack, not a mental one. The counselors we saw were trained in a specific kind of counseling in which they teach and utilize the Steps to Freedom outlined in Anderson's book(s). This required a guided, intense, prayerful look at our past and present - all the ways we've been hurt by others - to see where our fears/anxieties/bitterness/rebellion/etc. (looong list) originated. After prayerfully recognizing the origins, we, along with the counselors - prayed that God would help us to forgive those people who had wronged us (some even 20-some years ago, in our childhoods!), and in turn, forgive us for our sins that resulted from those past hurts (bitterness, fear), and release us from the strongholds that Satan was allowed to have because of those sins in our lives.
It was very eye opening in so many ways. Satan can take a small tiny thing (in my case, feeling inadequate as a child because I didn't have Reebok sneakers and everyone else in my class did) and over several years/decades blow it up into a huge thing (for me, negative thought patterns, general feelings of inadequacy and inferiority) that can make us into a totally different person from the one God intended us to be.
The counselors were affilated with Freedom Ministries, also known as Biblical Concepts Counseling, and while I am not affiliated with them in any way, I highly recommend that type of Christian counseling to anyone in need. It is free counseling, too, which is awesome. It has literally changed my life, and continues to do so, as I am now equipped with those weapons that Christ gave me, rather than my own powerless weapons of the world, to conquer the demons that try to sneak into my thoughts - which is why taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ is SO important!