STRONG HOLDS
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OFFENSE
If our experiences do not guarantee that they would leave us with strong holds in our minds, then there is something else that when added to our experiences, will manufacture a strong hold; and that thing is called offense. Two people can have the same experience and only one of them will develop a strong hold as a result because only that individual took offense from that experience. By not getting offended, the other individual had avoided the development of a strong hold.
This looks like a very unfair point to make, but that is just the way life works. If you take a good look at the story of Adam and Eve in the garden you would see that when the serpent tried to get Eve to eat from the forbidden tree, she was not having it at first. But then the serpent used the offense card; he got her offended with God and that was how she fell.
Genesis 3:1-7 - KJV
1. Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he 85
said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
2. And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3. But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5. For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye
shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
6. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
7. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
If you take a good look at verse 5, you would see how the serpent carefully got Eve offended with God. He painted God as someone who deliberately wanted Eve and Adam not to be gods. But the truth was that they were already in the image and office of the most-high God according to Genesis chapter 1.
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If we examine the examples we discussed in the previous chapter, we will see how taking offense is a catalyst for a strong hold to emerge out of any experience we encounter.
The first example will be the guy who felt without wealth you have no value; he would not have developed such a strong hold if he never took offense when he felt he was treated poorly due to his lack of wealth. If he had just taken it as that everyone has their opinion, and had probably seen it as a blessing that he did not have to be deceived or cheated on, he wouldn’t have developed that strong hold. But the moment he took offense, he opened his mind up for further esteem destructive dialogues just as Eve opened herself up for further dialogues with the serpent when she took offense with God.
If we take a look at our second example which was about the lady who felt unworthy or undervalued because of her looks, so she compensated by throwing herself at a guy of a certain look, we will see that her experience gave birth to a strong hold in her mind because she was offended by the way she was treated while growing up. The fact that she was offended showed in her body language and reaction when I complimented her sister’s looks. She certainly isn’t the only lady to have had that kind of experience, but those who would not develop a strong hold from it will be those who managed not to get offended.
We can also use my story as a very good example. I had come across pornography and masturbation at the age of 16, but I wasn’t interested enough to get addicted. Another fact to note is that I had also been treated very unfairly on a good number of occasions while growing up. The difference between my experiences when I was little and the incident, I narrated that took place when I was 21, was that for the first time, I took offense. Many times, when growing up, 87
I just chose not to take offense or keep those events in my mind. I didn’t know I was handling things the right way. I didn’t know what was awaiting anyone who chooses to take offense and keep things in mind.
One of the reasons why we must avoid taking offense is that many of the people who do things that can offend us, are themselves just acting out the evidence of strong holds in their lives. Somehow if we take offense, we will end up with at least a strong hold; just like them.
Though we might not end up self-sabotaging in the same way or with the same habits, we will certainly end up with strong hold(s) just like them.
In my case, one of the people who usually maltreated me as a kid was also dealing with offenses meted out to him by another sibling.
It was like a transfer of maltreatment. Perhaps he was treating me that way just to remind himself that he was older than me and to prevent me from ever disrespecting him due to the way he was getting treated by the other sibling.
Another one I observed was that my father treated me poorly because growing up, he had some specific hopes he had placed on me and here I was refusing to become the person he had hoped I would be. This was an issue because my father was born into a royal family where his mother was the second wife. He always told us about how unfairly he and his mother were treated by his step-siblings and extended family after the death of his father. From the stories he told, you could tell he wasn’t happy even about the fact that his stepbrother was appointed the king of the village instead of a male from his mother. For this reason, my father had secretly nursed the ambition of one of either him or his sons becoming the head of the clan and village. He certainly had the financial power to achieve this but the problem was that the son whom he had put a lot 88
of interest in, was not interested. I once confronted him and told him to move on from whatever happened many years ago between him and his brother so that he can fully enjoy his old age.
This is one of the dangers of taking offense; you risk becoming just like your offenders. My father had taken offense and now was a source of offense to his son just because his self-worth was still attached to taking charge of his clan. All the wealth and blessings God had given him were still not enough because this one strong hold was still in his mind.
One general example of people becoming just like their offenders is the case of young girls in universities or high schools. One day a girl is being laughed at and mocked by another morally loose girl, then the next thing you know is that the good girl slowly starts becoming like the loose girl. Let me paint how it happens.
First, the loose girl would repeatedly pick on and mock the good girl.
Maybe she would abuse her lack of expensive fashion or gadgets bragging about being able to afford an expensive lifestyle due to the many male suitors she is probably messing around with. The good girl can take any insult or mockery for as long as possible. But the day she picks an offense in how she is being treated; she would not only be letting the offense into her mind but also all the negative comments she might have received. She now runs the risk of believing these mockeries because they will be playing in her head repeatedly.
The result of this is she would begin to see sense in whatever negative description the loose girl had meted out to her and slowly change to suit the loose girl.
I was described as a potential failure by my sibling and a certified failure by my father but it was only because I got offended that I 89
slowly started to think they were right or were up to some truth. I started becoming anxious and scared about almost everything.
The lady who felt she wasn’t valuable because of her looks only started to believe that because she was offended long enough to start thinking maybe those around her were right. My honest opinion is that she was also good looking, but she couldn’t see it.
In the case of a guy who watched his father be abusive and disrespectful to his mother and also womanize heavily and he still ended up like his father, such a person would have started out by being offended by the situation in his home. This sounds unfair but the truth is taking offense meant that the situation will lodge in his mind long enough for it to materialize into a strong hold.
He might end up desperately trying not to be like his father; to the point where he becomes vulnerable and gullible to the women in his life and gets taken advantage of repeatedly. The strong hold in his mind in this scenario is that his self-worth is in how well he is able to please women (because he desperately doesn’t want to be like his father), so if he isn’t constantly trying to please women, he doesn’t feel valuable. On the other hand, he might end up believing that being like his father is perhaps the right way to live. The strong hold in this scenario is that his self-worth is in how many women he is manipulating and taking advantage of (because he desperately wants to be like his father), so if he isn’t being abusive and womanizing like his father, he doesn’t feel valuable. Whichever of the above routes his mind takes, it has certainly become hard for such a person to live a balanced life simply because he took and kept the offense with his abusive and womanizing father. Such a person would need to outgrow that offense and let go. I don’t mean he has to become tight buddies with his father, but he will have to get the offense out of his minds.
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If it was a lady who had witnessed such a father, she could end up thinking that women should put up with such a treatment from men just like her mother did, on the other hand, she could end up defensive, controlling and manipulative. She could also shutdown emotionally and become a promiscuous lady opting for meaningless sexual encounters than a meaningful relationship because she is now scared. This is what she risks by taking and keeping offense from what she experienced. She could have started out by being offended with her father for the way he lived or being offended with her mother for being a push over, or even being offended with both parents. This will ensure that her situation will lodge in her mind and materialize as a strong hold that will give her fear and anxiety (her self-worth is now being measured by how men treat or react to her so she will do anything to avoid being taken advantage of by men or to feel valued by men). She will end up with a self-sabotaging lifestyle as a way of countering her fear and anxiety. Like I said, she doesn’t have to become tight buddies with any one of her parents, but she must move past the offense in her mind (she had taken the situation in her home personal).
Be it a guy or a lady, he/she must not take the experience personal.
It could help to realize that these people who offend are most likely slaves to their own personal strong holds. But let me state it clearly that I am not against keeping your distance from such people who could be a source for offenses in your life.
The only way to beat developing strong holds from our experiences and to avoid becoming just like our offenders is to not be offended.
This is because we can’t avoid being wronged in life whether it be deliberate of accidental. Therefore, no matter what people do to you, do not take it personal (take offense) and allow it define you.
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Let me tell you a story of a king in the Bible who ended up just like his offenders because he took offense. The name of this king is Ahaz. He was the king of Judah during the time of the prophet Isaiah.
This story appears in the book of first Kings chapter 16. Ahaz was oppressed by other kings to the point where he wasn’t just about defending his people, he was now offended. He went and pleaded with the king of Assyria who was very powerful to help him kill the king of Syria who was tormenting his people and the king of Assyria obliged.
But what Ahaz did after the death of the king of Syria was very perplexing. He decided to copy the worship alters of the dead king of Syria and started to worship the gods of the same man that had tormented him and his people.
2 Kings 16:1-16 - KJV
1. In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah Ahaz the son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign.
2. Twenty years old was Ahaz when he began to reign, and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem, and did not that which was right in the sight of the LORD his God, like David his father.
3. But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel.
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4. And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.
5. Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to war: and they besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him.
6. At that time Rezin king of Syria recovered Elath to Syria, and drave the Jews from Elath: and the Syrians came to Elath, and dwelt there unto this day.
7. So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which rise up against me.
8. And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king's house, and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria.
9. And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him: for the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried the people of it captive to Kir, and slew Rezin.
10. And king Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and saw an altar that was at Damascus: and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the 93
priest the fashion of the altar, and the pattern of it, according to all the workmanship thereof.
11. And Urijah the priest built an altar according to all that king Ahaz had sent from Damascus: so Urijah the priest made it against king Ahaz came from Damascus.
12. And when the king was come from Damascus, the king saw the altar: and the king approached to the altar, and offered thereon.
13. and he burnt his burnt offering and his meat offering, and poured his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings, upon the altar.
14. And he brought also the brasen altar, which was before the LORD, from the forefront of the house, from between the altar and the house of the LORD, and put it on the north side of the altar.
15. And king Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt offering, and the evening meat offering, and the king's burnt sacrifice, and his meat offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings; and sprinkle upon it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice: and the brasen altar shall be for me to enquire by.
16. Thus did Urijah the priest, according to all that king Ahaz commanded.
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He had become just like the king of Syria. The same story is told in the book of second Chronicles but this time they went further to say that Ahaz became a source of God’s wrath to the people of Judah and when Ahaz died, his people refused to bury him in the sepulcher of the kings of Judah.
2 Chronicles 28:19-27 - KJV
19. For the LORD brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel; for he made Judah naked, and transgressed sore against the LORD.
20. And Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria came unto him, and distressed him, but strengthened him not.
21. For Ahaz took away a portion out of the house of the LORD, and out of the house of the king, and of the princes, and gave it unto the king of Assyria: but he helped him not.
22. And in the time of his distress did he trespass yet more against the LORD: this is that king Ahaz.
23. For he sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus, which smote him: and he said, Because the gods of the kings of Syria help them, therefore will I sacrifice to them, that they may help me. But they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel.
24. And Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of God, and cut in pieces the vessels of the house of God, and shut up the doors of the house 95
of the LORD, and he made him altars in every corner of Jerusalem.
25. And in every several city of Judah he made high places to burn incense unto other gods, and provoked to anger the LORD God of his fathers.
26. Now the rest of his acts and of all his ways, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.
27. And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, even in Jerusalem: but they brought him not into the sepulchres of the kings of Israel: and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead.
A lot of the people who go about offending people are themselves controlled by one strong hold or the other or even multiple strong holds. If you take offense, you run the risk of becoming just like your offender.
There is a friend of mine who usually say that it's broken people that create broken people but let me rephrase that in line with our discussion. If you get offended by a broken person, you will become like that broken person. The point I am trying to make is that most people who go around offending people or creating offenses be it deliberate on unintentionally are already broken with offenses of their own which they are carrying. It is a vicious cycle and if you learn to stop taking offense, you will be breaking that cycle.
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I am not saying that whenever people treat you unjustly, you should not do anything. You can speak up, tell them they have done something wrong, report to a higher authority, or do any other legal thing to handle the situation, but never keep the offense in your mind. Do what you have to do to be able to move on. If you think deciding to avoid such a person is the right way to go, then do so without keeping the offense in your mind. I would even recommend keeping your distance from someone who has chosen to be an unrepentant offender because they could be a source of a strong hold sooner or later.
There is another story on how to deal with unrepentant offenders.
This is a story of the children of Israel and the Amalekites. The Amalekites had decided to be a thorn in the flesh of the children of Israel when the children of Israel left Egypt and were heading for the promised land. The Amalekites were so evil that at one point, they attacked the children of Israel from behind their camp which was the place for the old and the cripple. At other times, the Amalekites would go and convince other cities to join them in attacking the children of Israel.
But the children of Israel were told by God not to react or go after the Amalekites until God says so. God knew that if they got emotionally attached to the issue, they would get distracted from their journey in life.
Deuteronomy 25:17-19 - KJV
17. Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, when ye were come forth out of Egypt; 97
18. How he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee, when thou wast faint and weary; and he feared not God.
19. Therefore it shall be, when the LORD thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it, that thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; thou shalt not forget it.
God was simply telling them to move on with their lives if not they will get distracted if they take offense.
The other thing to note is that God is not an unjust God. If the actions anyone has taken against you are worth any justice, God will be the one to determine that and at what time justice will be served. Here God promises them justice but the time for it will be determined by him. That is why he said after he has given them rest. After they have completed the journey he had set before them. Many people are so tied to offenses to the point that the offenses have become strong holds that distract them from the journey of life that God has set them on.
To show that God is truly Just, God was the one that still picked the time for justice. He sent the prophet Samuel to tell the king when it was time for his justice.
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1 Samuel 15:1-3 - KJV
1. Samuel also said unto Saul, The LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the LORD.
2. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.
3. Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.
You can see from this passage that it was God that later picked the time for justice. If the children of Israel had been stuck picking offense, they might not have ever gotten to the promised land.
In these days and age, and with the type of offenses that we met on one another, God’s justice will differ from that of the story above, and in most cases, he wouldn’t even use the offended to carry out his justice. In most cases, God wouldn’t even go to the offended to tell him/her about his justice but one thing is sure God is Just.
This means that to keep offense is to doubt God’s capacity for justice and his sense of Justice.
One way to properly explain the benefit of not taking offense is that it is a prerequisite for having peace of mind.
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Psalms 119:165 - KJV
165. Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.
Here, David says that for anyone to live righteously, such a person already has peace of mind and this is also because such a person doesn’t get offended.
we know that the end game of strong holds is to get us to treat ourselves in an unrighteous manner and then to treat others in an unrighteous manner thereby violating the law of God. We also know that the way strong holds get us to do this is by way of fear and anxiety. What other way can we describe the feeling of fear and anxiety if not lack of peace?
So what David is saying is correct. If you take offense, you lose your peace, and this will create room for fear and anxiety and in turn, lead you to do unrighteous things to yourself (self-sabotage) and to do unrighteous things to others.
One last thing I would like to add to this chapter is that people can also take offense against themselves. Maybe they made a mistake in the past or they trusted the wrong person, or for whatever other reasons, they become so offended with themselves to the point that it transforms into a strong hold in their life.
I once had a friend in my university days during my first degree in Nigeria, whose problem was that he was so offended with himself at that time. We had just entered the school and were all still getting to know one another in my class when I noticed a very quiet guy who would come to class and just leave after class almost deliberately 100
avoiding making friends. After noticing this for a while I could tell that he wasn’t a shy guy from the occasional interactions he had with people, some of which he had known before university.
One day after class I decided to follow him behind just to know his hostel room number. I discovered that he was staying in a hostel block that was facing mine. I was on the ground floor of my block while he was on the third and final floor of his. This got me very frightened because one conclusion I had come to after observing him for weeks was that he was depressed. So, knowing that he was staying on a floor that high got me worried because I feared that he could one day decide to jump. So, I summoned the courage to go and talk to him in his room one evening.
We had never spoken before, so I understood his shock to see me walk into his room asking his roommate that I was looking for him. I didn’t waste any time before telling him that I knew him because we were in the same class, I also told him I will be straightforward with him and informed him that I wouldn’t leave his room until he gave me the information I came there for.
I told him how I have been observing him and concluded that he was depressed and had something weighing him down. I told him I was worried for him so I wasn’t leaving his room if he didn’t open up to me. After dancing around words, he finally opened up and told me a very sad story.
He told me how one day he was driving to the airport in the state where he came from, and his best friend was in the passenger seat.
He said for some reason, he was over speeding, then they had a very serious accident. He said his best friend did not make it out of the car alive. He blamed himself for what happened, and it was clear he was still very offended with himself.
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It was at that point I understood why he had decided against making new friends. Perhaps he hated himself for what happened and feared that he would hurt another best friend. Perhaps he now saw himself as someone who would always hurt his closest friends. I asked him if he had learned his lessons from the incident. And he said yes. I simply told him that God had forgiven him long ago, but it meant nothing if he didn’t forgive himself.
I once heard a lady say she was scared of a relationship because she was scared that she would hurt the person. After all, that is who she was. Perhaps she made some mistakes in the past and hurt someone who cared so much about her. Now she had a strong hold in her mind telling her she wasn’t good enough because of that incident and that she would hurt the next person. So now she was self-sabotaging by avoiding meaningful relationships and rather going for baseless emotionless sexual encounters. Because of how she now perceived herself.
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JOYFULNESS
We already know that what strong holds aim to do is to get us not to express the kingdom/life of God which is in us. The kingdom of God is characterized by three things; righteousness, peace, and joy.
We also have seen that one way to protect our righteousness is by having peace (and to have peace we must avoid offenses). But there is something else that can act as a way to protect our peace of mind (thereby living above offenses). This thing is called joy.
This is why when the author of the book of Romans described the kingdom/life/character of God, he lined them up in this manner; righteousness, peace, and joy. This was a deliberate arraignment because to stay righteous you need peace, and to maintain that peace you need joy.
Romans 14:17 - KJV
17. For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
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So, what is Joy and how do we get it?
According to the dictionary, joy can be defined as a feeling of great happiness. But the truth is that Joy is a very difficult thing to define or describe. It isn’t happiness that is why it is described as great happiness by the dictionary.
There are telling differences between happiness and Joy.
Happiness is defined as a feeling of pleasure. But we can’t say for certain that Joy has anything to do with pleasure.
Let me tabularize the telling differences between happiness and Joy.
HAPPINESS
JOY
Happiness is a response of Joy comes from within an pleasure to an event or an individual, it isn’t a response but action.
This
means
that a state of being.
happiness
is
triggered
by
something external of a person.
It is temporary (short term), It can be long lasting based on based
on
outward inward circumstances
circumstances.
Expressed outwardly
Identified by inward peace and
contentment
From the differences I have highlighted, it is easy to tell that happiness is something that belongs to the flesh. It is more like a stimulus reaction to things that we find pleasant. But Joy is something that originates from inside of us.
Just like righteousness and peace, joy is a thing that originates from the inside and isn’t triggered by circumstances. Joy is more of a conscious choice than a reaction.
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But despite all the inconclusions on how to best describe Joy, I would say there is one word that best does the job; and that is satisfaction.
So, I would define joy as a state of satisfaction. A state of being satisfied irrespective of physical circumstances and happenings.
If this is true, then the kingdom/life/character of God is a life of righteousness, peace, and satisfaction.
This is a claim supported by king David in the Bible.
Psalms 17:15 - KJV
15. As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake,
with thy likeness.
To have the likeness/life/nature/kingdom of God is also to be satisfied. This is not satisfaction based on one day getting all that we can physically desire because social scientists and psychologists have so far argued that humans can’t be physically satisfied; our wants are endless. This is a satisfaction irrespective of physical wants and desires.
This means Joy comes from a deliberate choice to be satisfied irrespective of your circumstances. To be appreciative of what you’ve got. But how can a person stay satisfied even when things are not looking good?
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How is a person expected to be motivated in life if he/she is expected to stay satisfied/contented at all times?
The answer to this is purpose. Man must live a life of purpose if he/she is to stay satisfied no matter what.
Purpose is defined as the reason for which something is done or created or exists.
Everything in life has a purpose, be it a nonliving or living thing. This includes man.
When a person isn’t living for a purpose, they are living for pride/lust.
This pride/lust is the reason why a person will develop selfish expectations that prevent one from being satisfied.
In life, every action taken is done for either of two reasons. Pride or purpose.
You buy a car either for purpose or for pride.
You wear a dress either for purpose or for pride.
You get a degree either for purpose or for pride.
You marry a spouse either for purpose or for the pride of getting married or getting married to that particular person.
every cause of action taken in life is done either for purpose or pride.
Everything made, is made either for purpose or pride. Everything in life is subject to this principle (including man).
We can find the purpose for which God made man in Genesis chapter 1, first in verse 26, and then after creating man in verse 27
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God explains his purpose for creating man by giving him instructions on what he is expected to do on the earth in verse 28.
Genesis 1:26-28 - KJV
26.
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28.
And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
Before verse 26, God had instructed the Waters and the Earth to bring forth creatures after their kind, and they did bring forth the fish of the sea, the fowls of the air, and other living things that move upon the earth. So, in verse 26, God was simply sharing his plans with the Waters and the Earth of making a superior being that would overlook (have dominion over) every other creature.
In verse 27 he creates man in his image, and in verse 28 he explains man’s purpose to man. But in verse 28 he breaks it down into four parts. The first two are to be fruitful and to multiply, and the last two 107
are to replenish the earth and subdue the earth. Let us briefly examine these four aspects of man’s purpose.
Be fruitful
This paints the picture that all living creatures are expected to be like trees and bare fruits. One very important thing to note is that trees don’t bear fruits for their own benefit but for the benefit of other creatures. Therefore, God’s first instruction to man is that he must bear fruits that other people and creatures can benefit from. That is man’s primary purpose.
The word fruitful means to produce useful and helpful results. Thus, God’s primary assignment for man is that man must be useful and helpful. Man must be a blessing in one way or another to other people and creatures. This is man’s fundamental purpose.
Therefore, if a person wants to live a life of purpose, then he/she must have a mindset of usefulness. Such a person’s motivation would be to be useful. In other words, to be productive.
Multiply
Multiplying is the second basic assignment or purpose given to all living creatures. To multiply means to reproduce. This is the second most important thing to any creature thus it should be the second most important source of motivation for every creature.
If this is the second most important source of honor and joy, it is the second thing on the list we must strive to excel at.
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Multiplying doesn’t just mean reproducing it also means taking good care of what we reproduce (our offspring). This is the second most important task of a person, to reproduce and take good care of our offspring (to be good parents). If this is done right, we then can derive pleasure and honor from the well-being of our offspring. This includes both physical and spiritual well-being. It is not just a responsibility to multiply physically but to also multiply knowledge and understanding to the younger generation. By offspring I do not mean only biological, this refers to everyone we come across who is of the next generation and needs our guidance and care.
Unfortunately, many people are so distracted by their pursuit of the pride of life to the point where they neglect this second most important assignment. Many people are so preoccupied with their chase for wealth, recognition, and physical gratification that they neglect their responsibilities to their offspring. This is how much living for pride can affect our purpose. Many parents think it's all about money so all they throw at their children is money. No mentorship or mental care. Most times this is because they are more interested in chasing after the pride of life thus, they can’t fulfill their purpose to their children.
The second most important thing that a person should find pleasure and honor in, is to be beneficial to their children and the younger generation. This is what multiplying entails. If you are not focused on deriving honor from this purpose, you will leave a vacuum to feel worthless and this will open you up to fear and the pursuit of more pride.
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Replenishing the earth.
This third instruction given to man is given to him to prevent him from destroying the earth. What God was saying to man is that he is the one to manage the earth. Whatever you take from it as you live here, you must replenish. A practical example is how man cuts down trees and kills wildlife without any management plan that replenishes these things. We just keep taking from nature without putting back (replenishing) what we take.
But if we take a look at the world we live in today, man has not been able to fulfill his assignment of replenishing the earth because man is busy chasing after pride. We are always looking for more wealth, more comfort, and more recognition through owning more properties. We don’t seem to know when to stop and replenish what we have taken from the earth. And in all our greed for more, it is the earth that has to supply the resources to meet our greed.
If only we would live out our true assignment (purpose) by being more kind to the earth but our pursuit of pride is in the way of this. If we are focused on replenishing the earth, it will reduce the appeal for the pride of life that we have. Thus, being concerned about our environment can also help us constantly be in a mindset that makes it difficult for the desire for pride to sneak in.
Subdue the earth
This is the final part of God's instruction to man when he created man. This is the part where God lets man know that he is in charge of the earth and the proceedings on the earth. Man has the power to make use of the earth to suit his needs.
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In other words, man is the boss of things in the physical, nothing that comes from the earth is more valuable than man.
The thing is if we choose to live a life of purpose, our focus in life changes from our circumstances to the amazing things God has done for us. We begin to notice the gifts and qualities that make us unique. We are not controlled by pride which means we are less concerned about what people do to us but what we do with ourselves. This is because to live for pride is to live for people’s reactions and actions to us but to live for purpose is to become happy with ourselves.
This means that every day, we are only motivated by what we do with ourselves and the contributions we can make to life, thus we stay appreciative of our every effort. We will be too busy focusing on our application of the amazing things God put inside of us than being focused on what others are doing to us. This is a way to insulate us from taking offense.
This worked for me when I was little. I have come to realize that the reason why I wasn’t getting offended by the way I got treated as a kid was because my mind couldn’t just dwell on it. After all, my mind was busy trying to discover more things about the world and myself.
I was either busy reading something new, drawing, or trying to build something that could amaze me. I was always looking to amaze myself by doing something new or discovering something new.
There simply was no time to sulk over my experiences.
Staying focused on being fruitful, multiplying, replenishing and subduing the earth as opposed to being focused on how other people perceive you will help you stay satisfied and joyful. In this state of mind, it is very difficult to keep offenses. Thus, it is very 111
difficult to lose your peace and righteousness. It becomes difficult for any strong hold to develop in your life.
To live a life of purpose, a person’s mind must be tuned to finding pleasure and honor in being useful rather than finding pleasure and honor in the pride of life (people’s opinions). If your mind is tuned towards one, it cannot be tuned towards the other. It is this pride that when we do not get it, opens us up to being offended. When we do not feel recognized or appreciated or valued by people, we get offended. But if we do not put our value on how other people treat us or react to us, but rather on the fact that we are here for a purpose and are living for that purpose, we will always be satisfied as long as we know we have been living for purpose. It’s all about either measuring yourself based on pride or purpose.
To this end we can say that if Eve’s motivation was tuned towards being useful in the garden, she would have gone about fulfilling her purpose of being useful, she would have found reason to be pleased with herself and thus she wouldn’t have been motivated by the pride of becoming a god (like the serpent was selling). Also, if she had applied herself to be useful, she would have discovered amazing things about herself that would have shown her how much she is already like the almighty God (she was already a god).
Genesis 3:5 - KJV
5. For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
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She would not have believed what the serpent said here because she would have realized that God already gave her the capacity to be like him and also blessed her with amazing capabilities to fulfill his purpose for creating her.
Genesis 1:27-28 - KJV
27. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
You can see that before God started instructing man on man’s purpose, he blessed man. this was God giving man the capacity and gifts to be able to carry out man’s purpose. Focusing on living a life of purpose will make you realize the amazing things God put inside you. Thus, this will act as a counter to any self-devaluation that strong holds tend to create in our minds.
This is the way to stay joyful; change your focus in life from achieving personal pride and recognition from others, to focusing on living a life of purpose. Measure yourself through the purpose focus and see how you will always be satisfied as long as you know that every day, you put in your best to fulfilling purpose.
Once we can switch our focus from pride to purpose, we will begin to measure ourselves not by pride but by living purposefully. Thus, 113
we will always be grateful for what we have and avoid dissatisfaction. This is because our dissatisfactions in life are based on not getting those things that we were hoping will give us pride.
The dilemma of many people today is that they live for pride and not purpose so they struggle to experience joy even when they are doing great things with their lives. They are fulfilling purpose but their focus in on the prides/recognitions that they are not getting from a particular person or people in general so, they always fail to count their blessings. By cutting out this hope for pride and replacing it with purpose, we become satisfied and thus joyful.
By becoming joyful, we will protect our peace of mind and in turn righteousness. We will be foiling the works of strong holds.
The question now is when you wake up every day, are you looking forward to achieving some pride or to being purposeful?
Have you placed your value in how people perceive and treat you (pride) or in the fact that you are in this life blessed with gifts for a purpose? Putting your value on how people perceive you will make you vulnerable to offenses and strong holds. Putting your value in the hands of other people is a recipe for anxiety and fear. This is because no mater your effort, you might not feel valuable until other people say so. But if your value is in purpose, you are the one that measures how valuable you are and if at any time you feel you are not valuable, it is most likely because you had not done something useful, you know that you can remedy that by yourself by putting more effort in being useful. But if you live for pride, then your usefulness or value is determined by others and how they treat you irrespective of how useful you have been with your life. This is a recipe for anxiety and thus a fuel for addictions and self-sabotage.
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