Do you feel like you are living under a spell of personal or family curses? You could be! The good news is, Christ came to set us free from strongholds and break the spell! Many Christians live under a ceiling of shame, guilt, and just downright oppression. This is because many of our churches and Christians to this day have such a strong fear-based teaching. They teach our children that sin separates them from God, tell us how God will punish us and basically speak for God in our lives. That alone is an idolatry way of thinking, because they are speaking, judging and teaching as if they are God himself. No one can tell you what God is going to do in your life, no one knows that except for God!

God has called people to do things many Christians today would claim God would never do. Let’s talk about that. Did God not lead Jesus himself into the desert, knowing he’d be tempted by Satan? God led Jesus to temptation, for a purpose. Satan used the word of God to try and deceive Jesus. Jesus didn’t deny that what Satan quoted from the scriptures was true. Jesus also had a truth, and used a truth against a truth that was being used to deceive. How sobering is that? So Satan uses truths about God to deceive us? Indeed he does. And he also uses truths about us to deceive us into believing we are someone we are not. He uses God’s word and many other things to put labels on us, to define us, to make us and others believe things about ourselves that aren’t true. Guess what? The only thing that can make it true, is you agreeing with it. When you fall into agreement with the enemy about anger, fear, shame, justifying sin, oppression, how others see you, how you see yourself, etc.. When you fall into agreement with the enemy about anything, you are allowing him to continue unhealthy patterns, family strongholds, broken thought processes, and more to have control in your life.

People want to think they know things that they simply don’t. This is why trusting in God’s truth, guidance, and godly counsel that’s tested and confirmed in faith and communion with God is crucial to your decision making, growth and identity in Christ. What does identity in Christ mean? It can mean different things to everyone. In my opinion, it means the identity in which Christ died for us to have, free from all strongholds. We are no longer bound by the law, and actually never really were. Christ came to prove that, to embody that by those he loved and led, and to reveal to us the true character of God. Thank God for the scriptures! What’s been written makes it absurd and not even sensible for anyone to judge another human being. We can’t ever assume what God’s plan and purpose is for another person, period. We can offer insight confirmed by God, which would be in alignment with his plan for someone else, but never should we assume we know. That is primarily between God and that person, then truth is revealed as it prevails in that person’s life for others to see. For instance, God told his prophet Hosea to marry a prostitute! If a friend of yours came and said to you, “God has spoken to me and told me to marry a prostitute”, what might you respond with? Maybe something like “God would never tell you to do such a thing, I don’t believe that is God that’s spoken to you!” God had a plan and purpose for this marriage, as evil as it may have appeared, God was using it to display his redemptive love for Israel. In Hosea following God’s instruction, he still did not accept Gomer’s continual sin in their lives. When Gomer committed adultery after they were married, Hosea allowed his wife to come back in the home and made them abstain from sexual relations for a period of time so that she would become devoted to the Lord. So even though Hosea had married a prostitute, he didn’t allow her to continue with her promiscuity. He was a devoted husband in submission to God first, and then to her in leading her into becoming devoted to God as well.

Do you have family, a spouse, a child or friend that is living in generational strongholds that God has called you to rise up to break? If you are openly allowing members of your home or people in your circle to be disobedient to God, you are in agreement with the plans of the enemy. We have the choice to not accept his plans in our life or the lives of our loved ones. We can only do our part in not accepting it, but we MUST do our part and nothing short of it. So how do we intervene to break it? We must set hard boundaries that enforce change. Some may be minor and some may be extreme. The greater the stronghold, the more extreme the boundaries need to be. Not only do the boundaries need to be implemented for the other person, but also for yourself and whoever else is subjected to the destruction of the stronghold. For instance, if someone in your family is caught up in a sin that’s repeating itself over and over again, that’s more than likely a stronghold and the door has now been open in your home for this sin to come in and live there. Sin breeds more sin, and spreads like a cancer. Becoming aware of this, you now have to place boundaries for yourself in order to not get caught up in it. The boundaries will be different for every situation but the goal is always the same. To break the stronghold. It reminds me of the verse, Matthew 5:30 “And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.” This is a parable Jesus is using for us to run from sin. Sin is so destructive and sneaky. This is why we have to be diligent, the word diligence is used several times throughout the Bible in reference to our faith and abstaining from sin. We all sin and fall short of the glory of God. When we allow sin to develop into a stronghold, that’s where we get into serious trouble. When we’re diligent in living in the truth and light, we keep sin away. “The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light.” Matthew 6:22

The darkness of sin can cause things to become very dim and hard to see. However, it’s never too late or too dark to bring the light of the Lord into your life and take a stance against the darkness of sin. As believers in Christ, his power in us is greater than any sin! Being the one to stand up against a stronghold, wether over you or a loved one, having to set specific and strong boundaries can be very difficult but the reward will be great and life giving.