Taking Captive Thoughts
“I cannot function without coffee! Don’t talk to me or expect breakfast before liquid fuel is in my body. I literally cannot parent well or be a nice person until I’m caffeinated.”
This may seem a little extreme, or it may hit home to you. Many people jokingly accept the lie that they cannot function without coffee. I don’t have a problem with joking about things in general, but let’s look at this example and see the other belief systems it’s putting into place.
Because I believe that I NEED coffee to make breakfast, parent well, or be a nice person, I create excuses for how I act if I haven’t drank coffee yet. Is it physically realistic that I cannot cook up some eggs or cut up some fruit before I drink coffee? No. What about snapping at my kids or being unkind to others? Is not having coffee a legitimate excuse to treat people poorly? Absolutely not! Yet because, to some degree, it is believed, it is accepted as ok.
If I believe a lie, it becomes my reality. Everything I do is based on what I believe whether it is true or not.
Believing I have to have coffee to function well can lead me to lack love, joy, and peace, because I believe I need something other than God to create those feelings within me. This wrong belief also leads me to not be as effective as I could early in the morning. I can change this belief to: I enjoy my coffee in the morning. It is not what gives me life, but it is a gift from God that gives me pleasure and extra energy.
Whatever I surround myself with or put within me will become part of me unless I’m proactive about separating truth from lies.
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 10:5
Demolishing arguments and pretensions that go against the knowledge of God and taking captive my thoughts and making them obedient to Christ is more than just recognizing a bad thought.
We can all point out negative thoughts, but can we point out what the lie is? Do we catch thoughts that go against the knowledge of God? Do we know what’s true? How can we figure out if something is a lie if we don’t know what’s true?
It is vital for us to know who God is, what God thinks about our circumstances and us. If we don’t know what He thinks, we will live in bondage. Lies keep us in bondage. Truth sets us free.
So what does taking our thoughts captive actually look like? When a thought comes into my head I check it with what I know of God, His character, His heart for me, and His thoughts of me. All these can be found in the Bible. So, if a thought comes into my head contrary to what God would agree with, I need to grab the thought, REJECT the lie, and then REPLACE the lie with what God thinks, the truth.
It’s very easy to want to push away negative thoughts, and the general idea behind that seems good. But if we don’t replace it with truth, there is opportunity for it to keep trying to pop back up and torment us. We need the truth from the Word of God to battle the lie and kick it out.
Let’s look at some examples:
“My opinion doesn’t matter. No one cares what I think.”
Lie: I shouldn’t talk. I have nothing to say that’s beneficial.
Truth: I have words that will bless others. What I speak gives grace and builds people up. (1 Peter 3:9, Ephesians 4:29)
-I do have value to bring to conversations. God has given me a brain to think and has taught me things that can be beneficial to others.“My body is ugly. I don’t look like _________.”
Lie: I was created without thought.
Truth: I am fearfully and wonderfully made. I was created in God’s image (Psalm 149:13, Genesis 1:27).
-I was created by the Master Craftsman, and not only that, I was created in His image.“I can’t do this. I’ve failed at this in the past. It’s not going to be different this time.”
Lie: I’m a failure. I shouldn’t try again. Fearing this is reasonable.
Truth: I was created for good works that God has prepared for me to do. I can do all things through Christ Jesus, because He gives me strength. I have not been given a spirit of fear, but power love and a sound mind. (Ephesians 2:10, Philippians 4:13, 2 Timothy 1:7)
-I can do this. The past does not define me. I have messed up before, but it has given me understanding of how to do this better.
Continuing to believe lies no matter how insignificant they may seem to us creates a place of bondage in our lives. We won’t confidently pursue what God is leading us into if we aren’t actively pursuing truth in our lives. God gifted us with a powerful mind with intent. Let’s use it by filling it up with truth, so we are prepared to follow the Lord and do what He’s asked us to.
Reginna Luna
When she comes across a "mom break" (aka sleeping children), Reginna will most likely be found snuggled up to her husband, cooking, or reading. Being a co-founder of The Renewal Project, she loves the opportunity to minister life, love, and hope found in Jesus.
