Taking Every Thought Captive–The Battle For Your Mind
There is a violent battle raging around us twenty-four hours a day.
It is the battle for your mind, and that battle is intense. It is vicious. It is never-ending, and it is unfair because Satan never plays fair. And whatever gets your mind gets you. So, one of the most important things we need to guard and learn is to strengthen and renew our minds, because the battle always starts in the mind.
A key Bible passage about this battle for our mind is 2 Corinthians 10:3-5:
“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 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 10:3-5 (NIV).
We don’t wage war as the world does–in other words, we don’t fight with tanks, we don’t fight with politics, we don’t fight with money, we don’t fight with guns and bombs. It is a spiritual battle. Our job according to scripture is to demolish strongholds in this battle.
Taking Every Thought Captive
In 2 Corinthians 10:5, we are told to take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ. The idea is to control or to conquer. We take captive, to bring under control.
But how do you do that? And how do you help other people do that? How do I make my mind, mind? I definitely know that my mind doesn’t always mind. It is often rebellious and disobedient and wants to go its own way. When I need to think and focus, it wants to wander. When I need to pray, my thoughts stray.
We have to fight this battle for our mind.
PRINCIPLES FOR FIGHTING THE BATTLE IN YOUR MIND
Your mind is your greatest asset. The Bible has a lot to say about renewing our minds, strengthening our minds, and bringing our thoughts into captivity. In the next few weeks, I want to give you some simple principles for living like Christ and being effective for Him. In this week’s blog I want to begin by giving you another one of these principles:
Guard Your Mind From Garbage
The old cliché from the early days of the computer–GIGO, garbage in/garbage out–is still true today. If you put bad data into a computer, you will get bad results out. If you put mental garbage into your mind, you will get garbage out in your life.
“Gentle words are a tree of life; a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.” Proverbs 15:4 (NLT).
In nutrition, there are three types of food for your physical body. There is brain food that makes you smarter (this is actually true!). There is junk food, which is simple calories–it’s just empty calories. And then there are toxic foods, which are poison.
The same is true in what you allow into your mind. Some influences are helpful, encouraging, and uplifting. Some influences are not good or bad. And some influences are like stickers that stay with us and can make us negative, worried, anxious, and fearful. The Bible points us to fix our minds on the right things.
How Do You Guard Your Mind?
Philippians 4:6-8 gives us two ways to guard our minds: prayer and concentrated focus: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Philippians 4:6-8 (NIV).
The first way you guard your heart and mind is “in all things” pray. Then scripture tells us to think about whatever is excellent or praiseworthy. We are to pray about everything. If we were to pray as much as we worry, we would have a lot less to worry about.
Pray about everything is a picture of a running conversation with God. A conversation where we are praying: Help me. Guide me. Thank You. Let me not react badly.
Next, the Bible says we should focus our thoughts. “Think about these things.” Whatever gets your focus, gets you.
Let’s go back to 2 Corinthians 10 and ask two foundational questions. What is your biggest stronghold? The biggest lie? Maybe it’s: My past is too bad for God to forgive me. Or I’ll never be enough. Or I’ll never be close to God. Or all my relationships are always going to fail. Name and identify just one stronghold, one lie you’ve accepted and believed. This is important because you can’t defeat what you don’t define.
Here’s the second question: What is God’s truth that demolishes that stronghold? The truth matters. “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
John 8:32 (NIV). A lie defeats you, and puts your mind in a bad place. What is God’s truth? Let God’s truth be your anchor to defeat the strongholds you face.
It’s time to capture those lies, name them and replace it with God’s truth. And by the power of God, you will be set free!