This article originally appeared on Curt Landry Ministries.
*Note: This is the first of a two-part series.
One of the outcomes of operating out of the opposite spirit is staying in alignment with the Lord. But what does it mean to “operate out of the opposite spirit”?
In short, it means you operate out of the spirit rather than the flesh. If your flesh says doubt, you choose to operate out of the spirit of belief.
Our fleshly nature wants to operate out of and agree with what we see, feel and understand in the physical. However, when operating out of the opposite spirit, you come to see, feel and know what is actually happening in the spirit realm, and you allow God to guide you rather than your flesh.
I want to talk to you about operating in the opposite spirit. One of the keys to operating in the opposite spirit is an ability to align with and stay in alignment with God. The key is to stay in alignment.
So, anytime you have conflict in a situation, body, soul, spirit, people, place or thing, you must adopt a faith mindset and align with God, and operate out of the opposite spirit of conflict. So then, operate out of the spirit of peace.
Operating Out of the Opposite Spirit Is Like Marital Arts
It’s like martial arts. You’re taking power coming at you and using it against the enemy. And the way we do that in the spirit is by battling in the opposite spirit.
- If someone comes at you with hate, then you come at them with love.
- If someone comes at you with doubt, then you come at them with faith.
- If someone comes at you with fear, then you come at them with the truth and with love.
This is what it looks like to battle in the opposite spirit.
So, the key to staying in alignment is, first, to make a choice saying, “I will, I must stay in alignment.”
Part of my value system is to stay in alignment with God. I don’t have to think about it, but you got to realize I’ve been doing this for 30 years. That’s why I’m sharing it with you. It’s a 30-year testimony.
Do I get out of alignment? Yes, I do, and I repent.
Think of Alignment Like a Train
Just think of it like a train. You’re going down two tracks. You got to walk in love, and you got to walk in faith. You are justified by faith, by keeping your train on that track. You’re not a free-will agent. You’re not like an impala where you can run and jump all over Africa and out in the field. No, you’re on a track, and narrow is the way, pressured is the gate. And few find it.
That’s where most people are. They allow their free will to be able to twist God’s grace to like, “Oh, I can just run off and do whatever I want. I would get out of that mindset, and this isn’t legalism,” but just say, “Listen, I cannot afford in my life to be out of alignment with God.”
How to Stay in Alignment
So, how do I stay in alignment?: You adopt habits and patterns and a choice of saying, “I’m going to battle in the opposite spirit.”
What happens if someone attacks me with adversity?: Then I slow down, back up and I start asking questions. And that diffuses the fight and the anger. And then you have to obey God’s Word.
What does it mean to obey God’s Word?: The person’s attacking you verbally or whatever, and you must forgive 70 times seven. And so, that’s the plan.
As long as you choose to walk in the opposite spirit and forgive, then the fiery darts are quenched by the shield of faith. You need to create habits and patterns that help you stay firm.
So then…
- Adopt habits and patterns, choosing to battle any adversity in the opposite spirit.
- Obey God’s Word.
- Forgive
A Situation of Battling in the Opposite Spirit
I had a friend of mine in a situation, and he was in a sales situation inside a corporation. Somebody wanted to do something else for more profit, but it wouldn’t have been the right thing to do.
And so, the gentleman who put together the first sale was upset. His natural instinct was (and this is a somebody that has sat under my teaching for years, a disciple) to get upset. He was sharing with me and said, “Rabbi, it was amazing because what happened is I created a habit and a pattern that helped me stand firm.” So, a new guy came into the corporation, came from another company, doesn’t operate in same value system as this company and what he wanted to do is he wanted to jack the price up on this contract.
A Reason to Get Angry
And now, the salesperson that had put the deal together and already shook hands on it was like flipping out, saying, “I can’t believe it. That this guy, this is unethical, we’ve already given our word. We’ve signed the contract. I gave him my word.” This is the disciple that has been with me for years. And he said, “Okay, I had a choice.” He said, “My soul wanted to pick up the phone to my friends who are the long-termers in the corporation, and say, ‘Hey, you know that new guy? That new guy, man, he’s sitting there jacking the price up on this. He’s making us look bad.'” And he said, “Then I wanted to do this and that.”
He Battled in the Opposite Spirit and Gave It to God
And he said…
“No, it’s not what I did. I called my wife, and I took the principles from this teaching and literally out of our spiritual warfare book and said, ‘Lord, we choose to forgive this new guy for trying to bring inequity into the corporation by not making our ESBS. And that, Lord, Your Word says that You love balance scales. So, Lord, let the balance scales of the fair deal that was done, let that stand. And Lord, we choose to forgive this new person, and Lord, we’re not going to pick up the phone. We’re not going to call anybody. We’re not going to multiply the bitter root. We’re not going to try to manipulate the situation. We’re going to leave it alone. And I choose to forgive him.”
God Took Care of the Outcome
Then he said he dropped it and went to bed. The next day, he got a call, and the guy called, and the new guy and he didn’t approach them. He said, “Hey, you know what, I’ve been thinking about it. We’re going to leave the price at what you closed the deal at.” So, he never had to confront it.
It Was the Habit and Pattern of Standing Firm, Battling in the Opposite Spirit, That Brought Victory!
So, what was happening is he had a habit and a pattern that stood firm. And versus if he would’ve made a couple of calls to, then all of a sudden, he would’ve had two or three or five employees in this group coming against the new guy saying, “Oh, man, this guy is a liar, robber, all the stuff that people do.”
With all the bitterness, the only one that would’ve won was the enemy. It would’ve caused disruption in the team, maybe got the guy fired, maybe not. But I guarantee you one thing, it would’ve stopped the profitability, and the confusion would’ve set in and maybe the deal would’ve been lost. And this was a really big multimillion-dollar deal.
Sometimes it takes the wisdom of that apostolic leader in one of the mountains to say, “You know what?…
- We’re going to operate out of the opposite spirit.
- We’re going to trust God.
- We’re going to obey His Word.
- We’re going to have habits and patterns where we actually put the word of God of forgiveness to work. {eoa}
Curt Landry, founder of Curt Landry Ministries, and his wife, Christie, travel extensively, preaching and teaching about the Jewish roots of the Christian faith. Together, their passion is to empower families to live and leave Kingdom legacies and understand their own personal heritage.
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