Editor’s Note: This was originally published as a two part blog in January, 2015. The article below comprises both parts, combined into one.
Do you wallow in depression, self-pity, self-rejection, and self-condemnation?
Do you find it hard to forgive yourself?
Do you continually punish yourself when you fail to live up to your expectations or the expectations of others?
If you suffer from constant self-torture, you may have a personality spirit of self at work in your life.
You may be battling these demonic spirits from time to time, but if these thoughts are taking over your life, a personality spirit of “self” may be trying to dominate you.
In this two-part blog series, I’m going to talk about personality spirits and highlight a ministry session with one of my clients where we encountered this. I will first address why breaking an ungodly soul tie with it is vital before deliverance. In the next article, I will give you four important steps to take to begin to gain your freedom!
Deliverance Ministry Encounter with a Demonic Personality Spirit
One of my clients that had gone through deliverance earlier in the year had come back complaining that she was still suffering from debilitating effects of self-pity that were causing her to feel victimized and hopeless. I had prayed all I knew to pray for her in the past, and asked the Holy Spirit for some fresh revelation as to what was holding her captive.
I sensed something big in the spirit realm was holding her in the darkness. During this session, the Lord led me to have her break an ungodly soul tie with a “personality spirit of self”.
I then commanded the spirits related to this soul tie to release her. She immediately slumped over in the chair like a freed puppet whose strings had just been cut.
She later said, “It felt like a huge rock was lifted off my head.” This client left the office tangibly touched by the Holy Spirit feeling hope for the first time in years.
We encounter personality spirits frequently and believe they are also the active forces involved with people who are diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) or so-called multiple personalities. In those cases, people are frequently unaware of these personality spirits and often do not remember events when the spirit (or spirits) manifest.
The incident I described above was not a DID encounter or multiple-personality situation and I want to be clear about that!
There is another type of personality spirit that is often invited in when the afflicted person embraces the behavior. They can make it a friend or use it as a defense mechanism to cope with abuse or extreme stress.
In Rebecca Greenwood’s book, “Let My Children Go“, she relates the story of a client who had a soul tie with a spirit of anger. Her client liked his anger, embraced it and credited it with making him who he was: strong and in control. It gave him confidence and he felt protected by it. Rebecca describes how she first broke the soul tie with anger before she could cast it out.
I have prayed for many people with personality spirits of fear, depression, anger and so on, however casting out a personality spirit of self was new territory for me!
Since this client’s session, I have prayed for others with the same torment.
In all cases the clients have told me the most profound part of their deliverance was when that soul tie with the personality spirit of self was broken and the related spirits cast out.
Evidence of a Demonic Personality Spirit at Work
Personality spirits, apart from the multiple personality /DID scenarios, are rarely identifiable and they are usually discerned from significant presenting behaviors. Those with various manifestations of fear, for example, may have a personality spirit of fear. If it came in at childhood, from abuse, trauma or the like, it might be identified as a “little boy or girl personality spirit of fear”.
Personality spirits of self want to dominate and take over the thoughts of their victim. Their oppression comes in with crippling thoughts of self-pity, self-rejection, self-critical, self-condemnation, self-hatred and so on. They act as a guardian for dark thoughts of failure and hopelessness, however, once the soul tie is broken they lose their stronghold ground and deliverance is made possible.
Personality spirits of self become the best friend that is always by their victim’s side to validate emotions of defeat.
Some temperaments are easier targets for these spirits. Melancholies tend to be very analytical, self-introspective, and utilize self-talk as a way of reasoning. They can be moody and tend to live inside their own heads. They set unusually high goals for themselves that are often unattainable. They are fertile ground for these spirits since they are loners.
In part 1 of this extended blog, I talked about the nature of personality spirits, how they can be invited in, and why it is vital to break soul ties with them.
How can one can have an ungodly soul tie with a personality spiriit? I want to answer that question and then detail four strategic steps you can take today if you think you might be battling with this intruder.
Ungodly Soul Ties With Demonic Personality Spirits
The soul of man is where his fleshly mind and emotions reside. Spirits also have a soul realm. They can think and reason. We see this in scripture when the demons negotiated with Jesus through the tormented men in Matt. 8:31. They begged Jesus to permit them to go into the swine because they knew the authority he had to send them to the great abyss.
In our counseling center, breaking ungodly soul ties with people is an important part of preparation for deliverance. While demons do have a soulish realm, we do not typically break soul ties with every spirit we encounter; they are just cast out as part of the session.
However, we contend that the realm of personality spirits is an unusual case. As I related in part 1, we have seen that breaking the soul tie with that spirit (that was welcomed or invited in even unwittingly) is vital prior to calling it out.
We are still learning and gaining insights in this area but we have seen that this action is helpful. Some clients have said that the most impactful part of their deliverance was when the personality spirit of self was cast out. When this occurred, they felt like an enormous weight had been removed.
You may be wondering if you have personality spirits at work in your life. If you do, you will likely need competent help to deal with them but the suggestions below will get you started down the right path.
4-Steps You Can Take Today
- Break the ungodly soul tie with the personality spirit of self. Declare out loud:
“I break the ungodly soul tie with a personality spirit of self that has dominated my thoughts with self-pity, self-rejection, self-condemnation, self-critical, self-judgment, self-hatred and self-sabotage. I repent for inviting these spirits in by agreeing with them. I cancel their right to control my thoughts in the name and blood of Jesus Christ and I command them to go to the dry uninhabited land. I put a Jesus Christ bloodline between myself and these spirits and cancel their assignment today. “ - Forgive yourself and release self-judgment . Declare out loud:
“I forgive myself and release all self-judgment today. I will no longer punish myself with unforgiveness because I AM FORGIVEN!” - See yourself through the “Eyes of Christ”. Ask God to give you a humble view of yourself. A humble view is an accurate view. In Philippians 2:3-9 we are encouraged to follow the example Jesus set for us. When you can understand who you are IN Christ, you can accept your strengths and weaknesses and there is no need to punish yourself. You are loved and accepted by God in spite of your faults.
- Do not set unrealistic goals for yourself when you feel inadequate in some area of your life. High standards are good, but they are not helpful if you cannot accept anything less than perfection in accomplishing them. Ask God to wake you daily with wisdom and to open your understanding to his will for your day. (Isaiah 50:4)
These steps are going to give you light for today in the areas where the demonic realm has trapped you in darkness. If you have suffered in a cycle of self-defeat and now recognize these tactics as what is keeping you bound, deliverance counseling will only help you.
As you stand at the beginning of a fresh new year, it’s time to break the chains that are holding you in bondage to your past.
Are you ready to be free?
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