Taking Control of Your Thoughts
“The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 (NIV)
Do you control your thoughts, or do they control you? Yesterday, we discovered the power of a thought and how it can produce positive or negative actions. One of the first battles a Christ follower encounters is in the mind. Our minds, and what we think, are battlegrounds between God and Satan. The Bible tells us that Satan is a liar and a deceiver. He strives to cause us to think wrong thoughts that lead to wrong conclusions about God, others, and our own identity in Christ! He can make our thoughts troubling, but he doesn’t have to control them!
How can you take control of your thoughts? Paul tells us that this is part of our spiritual warfare. In 2 Corinthians 10:3 (NIV) he said, “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.”
Did you get that? If you are a Christ follower, you need to arm yourself for warfare! You and I have been given weapons for this battle, but they are not the weapons of the world. The weapons we’ve been given have divine power to demolish strongholds! Author and Evangelist, Ed Silvoso, defines a stronghold as “a mindset impregnated with hopelessness that causes us to accept as true something which we know is contrary to the will of God.” When a thought comes to mind, it’s wise to discern whether that thought is true or false. How do you do that? The Bible says to “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:5b (NIV) Run the thought you’re thinking through the grid of God’s Word. Does it align with the truth of what God’s Word says? Is it contrary to God’s Word? If it is, reject the thought from the enemy and accept the truth of what God says.
Because our feelings are often attached to our thoughts, it’s easy to be deceived. That’s why we can’t respond with our feelings but, instead, with the facts of what God says in His Word. When we do, we are using the mighty weapon of His Word, the sword of the Spirit, against the enemy! Don’t let negative, untrue thoughts control you. Bring every thought into captivity to make them obedient to Christ and what He says. His thoughts are for you and not against you!