“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
This is a holy call to control our minds, and our minds are a powerful thing. Our thoughts can be set up against the knowledge of God and go against everything God says about us and to us. Our uncontrolled minds can bring us down roads that God never wanted us to travel. You know what I am talking about, right? Our minds can lead us down the road of worry where we see our unresolved issues and fear what might happen next. Our minds can lead us down paths of self doubt where with each step we take we hear a whisper in our ear telling us we are unworthy and unfit. Perhaps as a woman your mind has led you down Hormone Street where every insecure thought that could ever enter your mind has set up camp and you just can’t seem to get a grip on it. The mind is not an easy thing to control, so where do we begin?
This verse tells us to take every thought captive. That means as soon as you start to think one of the thoughts that goes against God’s voice, you have to recognize it and grab a hold of it. Sarah Young says in her devotional that we need to let the Holy Spirit act as a bouncer and boot those thoughts out of our minds. But then you have to take it a step further. You have to find something to replace those thoughts with. You have to go into your thought bank and replace it with truth. Philippians 4:8 says “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.” Your thought bank needs to be full of truths and promises from the Bible that you have stored up in your mind so that you can take those unconstructive thoughts captive and replace them with God’s Word. I know this is not an easy task, but in spending time in the word daily and trying to memorize scripture, I have been amazed at the collection God has given me in my thought bank. If you need a little help in building your own collection, here is a start. I suggest printing these verses out or writing them down and carrying them with you. You can even put them in a note on your smart phone so any time you find yourself needing to take a thought captive, you have the replacements on hand. You are not in this alone, sister. Let’s “demolish these arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God” together.
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
-Romans 12:2
The Thought Bank
- “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” –Matthew 6:25-27
- “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” –Philippians 4:19
- “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” –Matthew 11:28-30
- “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” –John 14:27
- “Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.” –Psalm 55:22
- “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” –Proverbs 3:5-6
- “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” –Romans 8:38-39
- “Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits— who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases.” –Psalm 103:2-3
- “The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.” –Zephaniah 3:17
- “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” –Ephesians 2:10
- “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.” –Psalm 107:1
Father God,
We thank you today for the truth of your word. Thank you, Lord, that you have us in the palm of your hand and can meet every one of our needs. Thank you for making us spotless with the blood of your Son, so we no longer have to carry thoughts of shame or self doubt. Thank you for giving us your truth to fill our minds with. You are amazing, Lord. We praise you in your majesty today. I love you, Amen.
Great lesson, Stacie! ♥
I have a great mentor who has helped me learn this lesson. She tells me all the time that the mind is like a vacuum. 🙂 Sound familiar, mentor?