For though we live in the body, we do not wage war in an unspiritual way, since the weapons of our warfare are not worldly, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds. We demolish arguments and every high-minded thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive to obey Christ.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 HCSB
If you watch home improvement shows, you know the construction crew loves demo day. They go in with their sledgehammers and their pry bars and they tear cabinets out, tear down walls, and remove anything that stands in their way of beautifying the place. Then they work to rebuild the home into a beautiful showpiece.
Many of us are living with strongholds that need to be demolished. Our strongholds can come in the form of addiction, pride and sexual immorality to name a few. They need to be torn down.
2 Corinthians 5:17 says if we are in Christ, we are a new creature; old things have passed away and all things become new. These construction crews tear out the old and replace it with beautiful new materials and fixtures.
The problem is many of us want to replace some things but keep some of the old things. We have a hard time letting go of that addiction. We can’t let go of our pride. We just can’t get over what someone has done to us so we remain bitter and angry.
This would be like rebuilding an old house and replacing all the old stuff but re-installing old dingy, dirty carpet. Why would you do that? As Christians, we must fight to demolish these old ways.
In Joshua 6, the Israelites’ first conquest in the Promised Land was the city of Jericho. When Moses had first sent the 12 scouts into the Promised Land, 10 of them had said the cities were strongly fortified and they could not conquer them. Joshua and Caleb said with God’s help they could conquer these people and take their land.
Joshua listened to God’s instructions and by simply marching around the city as instructed, blowing a trumpet and shouting those walls came down. This is a beautiful illustration of what God will do for us. They didn’t have cranes or wrecking balls. They had obedience, trumpets made of rams’ horns and faith.
Paul reminds the Corinthians in our Scripture passage that they are not warring against the flesh, worldly weapons are of no use. The devil can’t be conquered with guns and knives.
This is similar to what he says in Ephesians 6:10-18. He tells them to put on the full armor of God including the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness and feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace. He reminds them in every situation to take the shield of faith to extinguish the flaming arrows of the evil one, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit which is God’s word.
Paul tells the Corinthians to do something we should all practice. He tells them to take every thought captive to obey Christ. Sin begins in the mind. The eye may see something we want that we know we shouldn’t have, but the mind starts to dwell on it and this is where our trouble begins.
If you find yourself thinking about something you shouldn’t be thinking about, stop. Turn to God. Pray, study His word. Put on His full armor. This is how we destroy strongholds.
My friend, if you are dealing with a stronghold in your life, today is the day to demolish it. Turn to God, He will help you to destroy it. Take your thoughts captive and be sure they are obedient to Christ. The devil likes to send things to distract us and dirty up our new clean life in Christ. Don’t let him do that.
Stop it before it starts. If you have been struggling to let go of sin in your life, God will be glad to help you. Trust in Him and be obedient. Study His word. Pray continually. Before you know it those strongholds will crumble and fall down just like the walls of Jericho.
It’s time to tear those strongholds down. It’s demo day!
Have a great day!