What I’ve gathered from Neil T. Anderson’s Bondage Breaker:
By the time we accept Christ as Savior, even if at a young age, we’ve all established a set of beliefs we accept as truths and that we base our thoughts and conduct on. Most of the time we fail to recognize that we continue to harbor a misplaced faith in this alternate set of beliefs long after we are saved. Some of these beliefs are contrary to who we are in Christ. To stubbornly hold firm to these as if they were gospel can only lead to disappointment and hardships in life. Renouncing allegiance to these beliefs and submitting solely to God in every aspect of life will free us from the resultant fears, anxieties, depressions and feelings of defeat, helplessness and hopelessness.
I can attest to a definite, distinctive change in my own life after decidedly submitting my entire self to God in this way. Anxiety in specific areas of my life literally ended once I’d prayed a prayer renouncing anything I was holding onto that was contrary to God. A sense of wholeness filled me that I don’t remember ever feeling as an adult. This way of existing is new to me and it is allowing me to navigate through life differently, much more confidently than I ever have before.
Depending on the influences we’ve each had in life, our learned beliefs may or may not be actual truths. When a way of thinking is all we’ve ever known we naturally feel protective of it and defensive when it’s called into question. Unless we are secluded from society and purposely guard ourselves with the whole armor of God immediately after accepting Christ it’s likely we will STILL pick up a few “untruths” we put in our mental bank and treat as trustworthy nuggets of wisdom.
If we fail to recognize and effectively eliminate any worldly wisdom we have ingrained in us that contradicts God’s Holy Word it will interfere with our relationship with God.
To attribute a type of “faith” in some man-made piece of advice, well-known saying, or passed on family mantra is, in truth, idolatry IF that belief is contrary to what God says is truth. Scripture tells us that the enemy of God roams as a lion seeking whom he may devour. If we are already believing in lies of our own making, the enemy can, and will, easily build on those lies and eventually tear down our faith in God. I believe this is what happens when a Christian abandons their faith because of a major disappointment in life. It’s easy to assume God’s truths are faulty if we can’t differentiate between what IS actual truth and what are lies we’ve adopted as truth!
I’ve had to admit that I held on to quite a few lies without even realizing it. The book challenged me to honestly examine myself and acknowledge where I maintained a stubborn hold on some areas of life to handle according to my own ineffective wisdom.
All the failures I’ve experienced in life have been the areas I’ve handled my own way.
Most of the lies I believed started in a seemingly innocent way.
-worldly wisdom from acquired from movies, songs, self-help books, or mentors.
-coping mechanisms or comforts we lean on instead of seeking God’s counsel when distraught
-self imposed rules or “disciplines” we hold ourselves to with the same (or more) allegiance we hold ourselves accountable to God
-falsehoods we’ve been told by trusted figures that we’ve never thought to question
The worst ones were born of attempts to protect myself in the face of past experiences of being wronged or rejected.
These natural responses from my hurt pride once helped me lick my wounds and declare dignified indifference to the perpetrator. My belief in them began with a legitimate need to ease my emotional pain. My death grip allegiance to them kept me captive for years.
I’m learning and growing and I want to share. I’m also learning to be conscientious that where I am in my walk with God is not where others are. I cannot, and should never seek to do the work only the Holy Spirit can in efforts to “help” my loved ones also see a truth I’ve newly grasped. No matter how much I believe the answers I’ve just learned could help others, I have to be mindful to not get ahead of God and unintentionally push them away. My job is to let God transform ME. He has a custom plan to draw those I pray for to Him.