I want to talk about ownership.

Many times you will hear kids say, “That’s my toy!” “That’s my house!” “That’s my mommy!” They are very selfish. They know they own it. They want to keep it. They don’t want to share it with anyone. No one else has any legal rights to it. It’s “theirs.”

We need to talk about ownership of sickness, illness, and disease. Many times, when I am talking to people, they will say, “my cancer,” “my tumor,” “my asthma,” “my allergies.” They have already decided, subconsciously or not, they own it. Maybe they did not make the outward decision, but they think it’s “my headache,” “my cancer,” or “my sickness.”

As for me, I don’t want to own them. They are not mine. They are straight from the pit of hell. I need to change my view of the darts of the pit of hell coming at me through sickness and disease. Instead of claiming them as mine, I need to reject ownership and not associate them with something I own. Once you proclaim it’s yours, it becomes a part of your identity. It’s harder to stand up against it and realize it’s an outward force working against you rather than an inward force stuck to you.

So, rather than saying, “my headache,” you could say, “the headache.” Rather than saying, “my cancer,” you can say, “the cancer.”
John 10:10 says, “The thief came to steal, kill, and destroy. I, Jesus, came to bring life and life abundantly.” We cannot take up ownership of anything that comes from the thief. Otherwise, it’s very difficult to stand in the life promise that Jesus died to give us. Once you own it, it’s hard to deal with it. But if it’s an outward force and you view it as an enemy trying to come against you, take possession, and prosper as a weapon against you, then you don’t own it. Instead you say, “No, you’re not welcome here.”  

Would you ever allow a burglar inside and say “my burglar,” “my robber,” or “my murderer”? No. I don’t own it. It’s the burglar. The thief. The stealer. I stand firm against it. I am not going to take ownership of it.

Watch yourself. Pay attention to your language and see what you have taken possession of but need to drop and change. For example, changing your usage from the pronoun “my” to the indefinite article “the.” Make it generic: the headache, the sickness, the disease.

I challenge you this week to jot down notes if you catch yourself saying those ugly things. Pray and ask God for a new revelation, a new heart, and a new tongue not to receive those things as your own.