Defeating Castles of the Mind

What image comes to mind when you think of a castle?

Some may envision Windsor Castle in Britain, home to 39 monarchs for nearly 1,000 years. Others may think of the numerous medieval castles and forts scattered throughout Europe.

Having grown up in Puerto Rico, I think of Castillo San Felipe del Morro in Old San Juan, a 500-year-old castle with sprawling battlements and 40-foot-thick stone walls. Sitting at the mouth of the Bay of San Juan, this imposing fortress helped repel enemy invasions centuries ago. I have visited it several times and it always feels like stepping into a different time in history.

What came to mind for Christians in the first century was a Roman fort called a castrum. These fortifications were quite common in conquered territories and were built to garrison troops and supplies, as well as deter rebellions of conquered peoples.

Such would have been the image Corinthian brethren had in mind when Paul wrote: “The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds” (II Cor. 10:4).

The Greek word translated “strong holds” can mean castle, stronghold or fortress (Thayer’s Greek Definitions). Yet Paul was not speaking of physically tearing down structures in this passage. The context is spiritual warfare. He was describing castles of the mind.

The rest of the definition for “strong holds” makes this clear: “anything on which one relies…of the arguments and reasonings by which a disputant endeavours to fortify his opinion and defend it against his opponent.”

Paul understood that overcoming sin is a war against wrong thoughts. Christ also said in Mark 7:23 that “evil things come from within and defile the man.”

Among the more overt sins Christ spoke about in verses 21-22, He included “evil thoughts.” The Greek word for “thoughts” is dialogismos, from which comes the English word dialogue. Thayer’s defines it as “the thinking of a man deliberating with himself…a thought, inward reasoning…a deliberating, questioning about what is true…hesitation, doubting…disputing, arguing.”

Over the years of our life before conversion, we constructed spiritual castles in our minds consisting of reasonings and justifications for our actions, negative or destructive thoughts, evil surmising (imputing evil motives on others), doubts, bad habits, unsound ideas, conspiracy theories and false doctrines or heresies, as well as a stubborn mindset that is not easily teachable (I Sam. 15:23).

These are strong fortresses that defend against our attempts to eradicate sin. We must tear them down through repentance. The very definition of repentance is to think differently (Acts 2:38)!

Continuing in II Corinthians 10, Paul explains we must use God’s Spirit in “casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (vs. 5). God inspired this powerful language to help us understand that we must go forth as conquerors against our own minds!

By studying physical, real-life examples of successful conquerors, we can glean invaluable lessons on how to defeat these seemingly impenetrable spiritual structures.

Tactic 1: Build a Counter Fortress

True Christians do not engage in physical combat. In John 18:36, Jesus Christ said, “My kingdom is not of this world: if My kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight.”

Many of the things we are not supposed to do physically, we must do spiritually. While we are commanded to “not kill” (Ex. 20:13), we absolutely must kill spiritually to live (Rom. 8:12-13). God also commands “you shall not covet,” yet we absolutely must covet the right things earnestly (I Cor. 12:31).

Similarly, we can turn negative history lessons into positive ones by using them to our spiritual castle-defeating advantage. Famous battles from history can offer us wisdom in this regard.

Mongol leader Genghis Khan gained an edge by assimilating war tactics from those he conquered. “As their success grew against their sedentary opponents, the Mongols incorporated engineers—either conscripted or volunteers—into their armies. For the entire existence of the Mongol Empire, they were dependent on Muslim and Chinese engineers who manned and manufactured artillery and other siege equipment” (HistoryNet.com).

The article continues, “If the Mongols found they could not reduce the city or fortress, they often built a counter fortress to blockade it and waited until the enemy succumbed to hunger or agreed to a diplomatic settlement.”

While there is nothing to emulate about these infamous warriors’ conduct, we can learn about the Mongols’ shrewdness toward overcoming enemies. Have you ever thought of building a spiritual “counter fortress” to defeat a castle of the mind? In fact, a lack of a righteous mental fortification is the main reason castles of the mind are assembled in the first place. Proverbs 25:28 states, “He that has no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.” Without proper spiritual defenses, an attitude of sin enters and builds its own fortification.

God exhorts us to gird up or build up the loins of our minds with truth (I Pet. 1:13; Eph. 6:14). We must tear down wrong thoughts and replace them with our counter fortress of truth, ready to battle temptation when it arises.

Tactic 2: Cut Resupply

Another effective way to overcome a castle is to cut off its ability to resupply. In other words, to put it under siege. For us, this means to avoid exposure to people and things that feed wrong attitudes.

Minimize worldly distractions that derail you from achieving your goal. Psalm 101:3 says, “I will set no wicked thing before my eyes.”

“Wicked things” abound in today’s society. Just a slight glance at an inappropriate image can begin a castle-building project in the mind.

Have you ever accidentally looked at something God would consider wicked (this often can happen with online or TV advertisements) only to later realize the image became “engraved” in your mind?

It may have only been an image that flashed on the screen for a split second, but that is all it takes! If you do not fight it off, those little images then become “bad-memory triggers.”

Depending on what you were exposed to before your calling, from time to time you may experience thoughts from that past life. As a minister, I have heard this from brethren who seek counsel and worry that there may be something wrong with them. The answer is that there are castles of the mind that are still to be demolished. If that is happening to you, you must wage all-out spiritual war.

In this regard, a helpful visual comes from the Battle of Carthage in 149 BC.

The Romans, led by general Scipio Aemilianus, sought to defeat the rival Carthaginian empire by razing the capital city of Carthage (in modern-day Tunisia). The Romans built a “siege wall around Carthage and its harbor, including a mole [bridge] on the south side of the city. This latter structure would block the single access to Carthage’s mercantile harbor which led in turn to the large circular inner naval harbor. At last, Carthage could no longer be supplied by sea. In desperation, a small Carthaginian fleet twice tried to break the blockade by sailing through a newly made second exit to the harbor but both times they were forced to retreat” (World History Encyclopedia).

As we can see from this example, the key is to cut the resupply at all costs. Scour your behavior and thought patterns to find out what is sparking wrong thoughts or actions. Take action to cut off the “supply route”! Whatever your mental castle is, a blockade will eventually “starve it out.”

Tactic 3: Undermine the Enemy

Castles of the mind are built on ideas that are not in line with the sayings of Christ. Matthew 7:26 shows they are often built on “sand” and can be eroded with opposing effort.

During His confrontation with Satan in the wilderness, Christ undermined the devil’s attacks by countering them with sound doctrine (4:4-10). With each scriptural answer, He undercut Satan’s baseless attempts.

Studying the Bible to get to the bottom of things helps you do the same. Whenever you come to realize that you are dealing with a castle of the mind, dig into the Bible and the Church’s literature on the topic. God’s Word will help you destroy the foundation of any sinful fortress.

Our approach should be akin to the Siege of Chateau Gaillard in AD 1203, which took place in the Normandy region of France.

Here is a description of this castle from Warfare History Network: “The triangular-shaped outer bailey [enclosure] was surrounded by a moat and featured one large circular tower and three smaller semicircular towers in walls that were 30 feet high and 12 feet thick. The only way to reach the middle bailey from the outer bailey was to cross a causeway laid out with a zigzag turn designed to thwart an attacker from rolling a siege engine from the outer bailey to the walls of the middle bailey…”

This stronghold seemed impenetrable!

Yet the quote continues: “In February 1204 the French succeeded in breaching the outer bailey as a result of a successful mining operation.” They “tunneled under the wall and then fired the props that held up the tunnels. A portion of the wall collapsed, and the French fought their way through the breach.”

Are you willing to go to the same extent as the French to defeat your spiritual castles? Dig deep and find the weaknesses in the foundations of your reasonings to blow them out.

Tactic 4: Prepare for Resistance

Do not be naive. There will be resistance from within each castle and we must be willing to endure.

Think of movie scenes you may have seen of medieval soldiers pouring hot oil down onto enemy forces trying to climb castle walls. That is what pulling down a mind castle may feel like at times.

As II Timothy 2:3 states, we must be willing to “endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” Be patient with yourself. It takes time to tear down what took years to build.

Castles were designed with hidden or special features to make destroying them very difficult. The Spanish, for instance, used coquina—a limestone made from broken seashells—as building material in their fortifications to cause cannonballs to bounce safely off the walls.

Our mental castles may be quite resilient as well. But know that there is nothing impossible for God.

It takes resilience to overcome enemy attacks. We must “resist the devil, and he will flee” (Jms. 4:7). Also, be sure to wear the full armor of God for protection (Eph. 6:10-17), never forgetting that the “same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world” (I Pet. 5:9). Everyone has their own mind castles with which to contend!

Paul wrote in I Corinthians 15:33 that “evil communications [companionship or communion] corrupt good manners.” Certain relationships, unedifying interests—even our own ego!—are examples of what we may need to let go of to succeed. Yet God promises He replaces family, friends and more with newfound relationships and blessings in His Church.

The example of Alexander the Great’s siege of Tyre displays the need for would-be conquerors to persist amid tremendous resistance. Tyre was a city on an island just off the shore of what is now Lebanon. It was encircled by water.

Yet Alexander did not let this stop him. His army worked tirelessly to build a “mole”—a causeway built on top of a sandbar leading to the city. Yet this ingenious tactic did not mean Tyre fell easily.

World History Encyclopedia describes: “The Tyrians…initiated their first major defensive action of the siege. They took an old horse transport ship and filled it to the gunwales with combustible material: chaff, torches, pitch and sulfur. They slung double yardarms from the mast, and to these hooked cauldrons filled with a volatile inflammable oil. The stern of the ship was ballasted to lift the bows clear of the water, and two galleys towed her in towards the end of the mole, driving her and themselves aground.”

“The crews lit the materials aboard the fireship and all managed to swim to safety. The tip of the mole became an inferno as the ship burnt, igniting the two towers. A host of Tyrians in small boats rowed out from the city and landed on various points of the causeway, engaging the besiegers as they frantically attempted to douse the flames. Siege engines were burnt and the palisades along the edge of the mole destroyed.”

Despite these setbacks, Alexander’s army continued pressing on until they took Tyre. We must be ready when we attack our sinful strongholds!

Make a point of researching other castle defenses such as gatehouses, drawbridges and barbicans, baileys, catapults, circular towers, arrow-slits and gunports. Look them up! Then consider: If physical men can think of building such elaborate defense mechanisms, how much more the spirit world? Destroying your mind castles will take serious effort. But you have what it takes—God’s Spirit—to get the job done.

Tactic 5: Burn the Structures

Ancient Israel also engaged in physical warfare for God’s purpose, although God ultimately fought those battles for them (Ex. 14:14).

Interestingly, when fortifications were conquered in the Old Testament, the Israelites would not just destroy them. They burned them.

When fighting the Midianites, the Israelites burned “all their goodly castles [fortresses] with fire” (Num. 31:10). Likewise, after Jericho’s walls fell, the city was burned.

The lesson for us is straightforward. We should not let down on our efforts until all traces of the castles of our minds are burned out of our memories. Evil thoughts must be reduced to ashes!

Think of Ephesians 5 verses 3 and 12 that say there are some things that should not even be named or considered among us. This includes not entertaining certain thoughts. Do not give opportunity for castle construction or restoration.

I can think of how El Morro in Puerto Rico has survived the test of time and is now one of the best-preserved Spanish forts in the world. It has taken elaborate restoration efforts to maintain it. While that is commendable for the tourism industry, we cannot allow similar efforts to preserve our spiritual castles.

They must come down. Learn from ancient Israel—and burn them into oblivion!

Take Control

Never look at the wrong thoughts that cross your mind the same way again. What kind of fortifications do you see in yourself? Are there any Tyres, Carthages, Chateau Gaillards, Morros or Jerichos hiding in there? Find them and take them down using spiritual versions of the tactics that brought these physical castles down.

God called you to destroy the strongholds in your mind, and gives you the special ability to do so. We have access to much more power than Genghis Kahn, Alexander, Scipio or any other carnal warrior.

As the mastermind of castle-defeating, Christ encouraged us in John 16: “In the world you shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (vs. 33). He lives in us and will give us His faith to help us do the same.

Hebrews 11:33 supports this, stating that “through faith” Christians have “subdued kingdoms” over the ages. Now it is our turn. Believe it!

Castles portray military power and control. Where one is in operation, an army is present. Where one is down, an army was defeated. Reclaim power over what lies between your ears! Then use your victories to build momentum as you defeat more castles. As Proverbs 4:23 instructs, “Keep”—guard!—“your heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”

Take control of your mental kingdom now, and you will be given real power to help others pull down their mind castles later in God’s Kingdom.