Do you feel like a failure even when things work out?
Does the memory of your mother or father’s voice still demand perfection?
Do you struggle with self-condemnation?
Demons of legalism call you a failure to put you on trial and punish you.
Remember the miracle at the Gate Beautiful in Acts Chapter 2 when Peter and John commanded the lame man to pick up his mat and walk? That healing brought glory to the name of Jesus, saved five-thousand people in one day, and stirred up legalism spirits.
So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way of punishing them, because of the people, since they all glorified God for what had been done. (Acts 4:18-21)
Legalism lost that day because of the name of Jesus.
As believers, we don’t always face demons down with that name.
Instead, we listen to the lies that call us a failure and give them a foothold through our agreement.
Ten Indicators a Spirit of Legalism is Tormenting You
- It shames you with guilt, so you do not feel loved.
- Legalism produces self-hatred and self-condemnation.
- 3 It stresses performance over relationship and gets you to say, “I’ve failed!”
- It points out your shortcomings instead of how far you have come because of what Jesus did for you.
- It uses perfection to keep you striving for the approval of others.
- It turns your goals into idols to punish you when you cannot complete your “to do” list.
- Legalism changes your name to “failure” when you don’t hit the perfect weight, get the promotion, or pass the test.
- Legalism drives you with a rule-based mentality.
- Demons of legalism hate the fruit of love. They aim to keep you in spiritual bondage with self condemnation because if you cannot love yourself, you cannot love others.
- Legalism calls you rejected, unworthy, not good enough.
It steals the names God has for you: Victorious, Beloved, Overcomer.
To sum things up. Legalism wants to steal your name. The Greek word for nameless is Nothros. It comes from the root word Illegitimate, and it means dull of heart. When you are rejected, you are anonymous and dull of heart.
Legalism wants you to agree to the name the demons have given you, and they want you to live under a counterfeit identity. Counterfeit means that something is made in the exact imitation of something valuable or important to deceive or defraud.
Do not let demons of legalism steal your name and replace it with the lie of failure. That is not what God calls you. You may not be where you are supposed to be, but you are a long way from where you were!
Freedom Declaration
God listen to their threats against me and give me the boldness to speak freely and confidently in the name of your son Jesus Christ. I accept my new name as the beloved and reject the counterfeit name of failure. I command all demons of legalism, self-condemnation, and rejection to loose me now in the name of Jesus Christ, and I declare that I am free to be all that you have created me to be. Amen
As always, if you need more help, we are only one intake form away.
