When You Find Yourself Captivated by Captivity
Colossians 2:8 “See to it that there is no one who takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception in accordance with human tradition, in accordance with the elementary principles of the world, rather than in accordance with Christ.”
A Divine Revelation
How would being held captive by anything or anyone be captivating? Well, for many of us, we build emotional prisons that keep us safe but hold us captive. As long as we stay in our dysfunctional safe place, those thick prison walls keep the wounded and messy parts of our lives well-hidden and distant from those who could hurt or reject us. It also provides the justification we need to act out in woundedness without having to take any responsibility for it. After all, as a victim, we blame everyone else, and ownership for our actions is not required. Pity parties, conditional love, guilt trips, passive-aggressive behavior, self-sabotage, addictions, and all other forms of dysfunctional behavior are allowed and perfectly normal for those of us with an axe to grind. The healing and freedom of forgiveness, as well as the transparency and vulnerability of intimacy, are luxuries we can’t afford if we are going to maintain self-preservation. These are the philosophies and deceptive worldly beliefs that are common to our human nature.
Secondly, captivity breeds familiarity, and therefore, it is comfortable. It doesn’t require change on our part. We can stay stuck in what we know, hiding in our comfort zones and looking to everyone around us to make us happy. Even though it is a prison cell, it is better than the unknown, at least, that’s what we believe. Therefore, we never have to venture into the open, where trusting and loving others or ourselves is required. At this point, the role of martyr often becomes second nature to us, and sadly, the “doormat” kind of selflessness has become an art form. The big payoff for captivity is that we don’t have to look at ourselves, we don’t have to face the pain, hurt, hate, and unforgiveness that hold our hearts in captivity, and we don’t have to take responsibility for our actions or change the behavior that dysfunction creates.
I lived in an emotional prison for most of my young life. Captivity kept me from having to confront what others did to me or how I felt about it. And the most captivating part of my captivity was I didn’t have to risk loving anyone, including myself. It took a whole lot of recovery to break through the walls of my prison and show me that freedom was far more captivating than captivity was. I have also learned that being captive is a choice. A choice that kept me from feeling something more than pain, from knowing something more than dysfunction, and from having something more than conditional love for myself and others. The truth of God’s Word was what He used to set me free and change the desires of my heart so I could choose to be captivated by Him.
A Divine Challenge
We are all captive to something or someone. When we are captivated by captivity, it gives everyone and everything power over us. “You make me”, “If you’d only…”, “If the circumstances were different, I’d…”, “If I had…I’d be happy”, “If this hadn’t happened, I wouldn’t feel this way”, “If they didn’t hurt me, I wouldn’t be this way”, etc., are just a few of the lies that the enemy uses to hold us captive. Again, a victim mentality uses blame to divert responsibility, which keeps us stuck in pain and powerless to change. The problems we face become everyone else’s responsibility to fix. Sadly, this leads to a dead end! For those of us who claim the name of Christ, ownership and accountability for one’s actions are required, and change is mandatory. “First take the log out of your own eye and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”
Are you captivated by captivity? Are you stuck in what’s familiar, safe, but alone, in control of nothing, because you’ve given it away? Or do you try to control everything to hide the fact that your life is out of control? Galatians 5:1 says, “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore, keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.”
Call to Action
Beloved, being subject has to do with your free will submitting itself or yoking itself to something that enslaves you. To be a slave to dysfunction is to be held captive and under the control of the flesh and of the enemy. Or you can be a slave to righteousness by freely surrendering your will to God, the God who loves you, who died for you, and gives you the power to change through the indwelling of His Holy Spirit. He is the only one who deserves to be in control of your life, but He will never take control without You surrendering it to Him first. Jesus came to set the captive free! Why? So, He could be the thing that captivates your heart. Will you let Him?
Father, the enemy is not a user-friendly task master but a cruel tyrant. That is why Jesus came to set the captives FREE! Help us embrace that freedom that Jesus died to give us and cherish it. In Christ we get to change! We don’t have to stay stuck in our dysfunctional patterns of shame, blame, and victimhood. Help us choose FREEDOM! In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen!