Mind thinks. Heart knows.
I don’t write a topic on personal development without getting it first (know in my heart)… otherwise, they’re just words. They say that the journey from the head to the heart is the longest journey in one’s life. Most of the time we learn new things but we don’t apply them to our lives. I do believe this from experiences. You probably have heard a parent say to her child, “How many times do I have to tell you to pick up your clothes off the floor before you actually do it?” Seems like we can’t learn from hearing alone. Yeah… yeah… words, words, words… Why don’t we do it? I think because it has not registered in the heart. I’ve been reading the Sermon on the Mount for the past eight months trying to conceive that one liner… “Judge not that ye be not judged.” When are we going to stop judging others? This is a hard question.
I used to tell my students not to stress over remembering and memorizing everything they learn “today” but to conceptualize facts… things will form itself as you grow. Like finding the missing puzzle. Nothing bypasses the mind. Whatever you learned today is there in your head… they’re just misfiled somewhere in your mind (subconscious). They’re not lost. For example, if you don’t like me for some reasons you may not want to hear what I have to say. And that is fine. However, whatever bits you heard is somewhere in your head. Those misfiled information, good, bad, or ugly are stored in your subconscious.
I have been researching and thinking deeply about the strongholds that Paul writes in his second letter to the Corinthians (Chapter 10). In physical world, stronghold is a place of refuge, like a Defense Wall. Paul is using fighting words for us. They’re metaphorical – they speak of weapons, pulling down strongholds (not made of stones), not of high things in high towers but high faulting attitudes, imaginations… thoughts of the enemy. These things sabotage our growth. Why are we afraid to explore into something new or face our demons. Because the written programs in our head say do not to go where you might get hurt… it is fear within your stronghold disallowing you to think outside of the box.
Edifying words will make your life fruitful. Stronghold can also be a place of comfort and safety but a threat if there’s enemies within. The bad and the ugly become bitterness. Bitterness becomes strongholds of jealousy, envy, hatred, resentment, and unforgiveness, and so much more. These must be pulled down and be held captive to obedience of love.
Basically, stronghold of the mind are the written programs in our subconscious. This is where self-righteousness begins to judge others sending them to hell. Strongholds are captured by people who are willing to fight. People with passion and gumption to face their own enemy thoughts… in their heads. When we do, God will help us. (To be continued)