The Stronghold of the Mind! 2 Corinthians 10

Paul’s Defense of His Ministry

10 By the humility and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you—I, Paul, who am “timid” when face to face with you, but “bold” toward you when away! 2 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. 3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 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. 6 And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.

Once again we see Paul having trouble with being accepted by the Corinthian church. Despite his resume, all the churches he has planted and the ministry he has done among him, they still continue to doubt him and his motives.  My feeling is there were a lot of "naysayers" in the church, or those who were jealous of him.  

Their main critigue was that Paul wrote bold letters, but then they predicted he would be "soft" when he would be with them.  Paul basically says, "We'll see about that! Don't be so sure of yourselves.

Then, interestingly Paul moves to a discussion about the weapons he uses to demonlish arguments against him.  Though like them he lives in the world with the same sinful nature and carnal thoughts they do, he uses a different way of waging war against the principalities and powers in the world.  And this way was fueled by what he did with his mind. 

This is a great reminder that when we are facing someone who is trying to undermine us or spread rumors about us, we don't need to lower ourselves. We can take the high road and rely on the armor God has given us to defeat the evil one's attacks.  Whether they know it or not a person who is undermining the church or its leaders falsely, is being used as a pawn of Satan.  Satan will do anything to weaken or de-legitimize the church.  But Jesus says the "gates of hell" will not prevail against the church.  

So how does Paul encourage us to be ready for this battle?  He focuses on our minds and the way we think.  When we react emotionally to trials, we put ourselves in a vulnerable position.  Paul says that we need to take control and make captive our thoughts to Christ.    What does that mean? I think it means it means that we learn to think like Jesus did, even as he was tempted in every way like we are.  Jesus' thoughts were pure because he spent time with Father and knew his ways.  The more we become steeped in the truth the lies of the enemy are very obvious.

What do you put into your mind most often? Do you feed your mind with things that empower you to be more like Jesus? Do you understand how to refute arguments against the knowledge of God? I.e. Apologetics Do the things you put into your mind build you up or tear you down?  How much time do you spend time in God's word or listening to sermons/podcasts online?  

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