Take Captive

“Though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. . . . We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”-2 Corinthians 10: 3, 5-

The Bible says that our thoughts determine who or what we worship. Proverbs 4:23 instructs, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” Let me reword that for you: Be careful how you think, because what you think about determines what you will worship. That’s why the Bible tells us to take every thought captive.
Psychologists have given us increasing insight as to how that happens. The field of cognitive psychology examines how our thoughts shape our attitudes, emotions, and behavior. They’re all intertwined, but our mind is the all-important starting point.
Experts say that the first time you think a new thought, it’s like blazing a trail through the woods. In your brain, this new thought carves what is called a “neural pathway.” Like the wooded trail, at first the path is barely visible. But then the trail begins to get used, and before long, it becomes a well-trodden path that looks as if it’s been there forever.
Children and teenagers are especially busy carving out the trails of their young thought processes. Adults build plenty of new pathways too. I read a study about a young man who viewed pornography on his computer, with a baseball cap on top of the computer’s screen. After some time elapsed, it was shown that he could be sexually aroused by the sight of a baseball cap. He had worn a mental path that he will find nearly impossible to change. Remember, this is mental warfare.
So, we choose to go to war. We decide to take prisoners. We take captive every thought that meanders down the road and subject it to Christ’s command. Taking every thought captive means we wrestle every thought to the ground and force it to submit to Christ. One way or another, there will be a prisoner. Either we take our thoughts captive by the power of the truth, or we’ll find ourselves taken captive and imprisoned by lies.

DENYING TODAY
What thought pathways are you reinforcing in your mind? Where will they lead you? Philippians 4:8 gives us a great filter for our thought life. Read it and memorize it. Ask God to make you more conscious of what is on your mind.