The Battle for the Mind
By Emma Danzey
2 Corinthians 10:5 says, “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.”
We Demolish Arguments and Every Pretension Against God
Have you ever had difficulties with your thought life? Have you faced the daily challenge of trying to do war with lies from the enemy? You are not alone. Scripture tells us to guard our hearts and our minds in Christ. This is because on a daily basis, our emotions and thoughts are under attack from sin and the enemy. We are told lies about God, ourselves and others. The very first sins at the Garden of Eden were influenced by the words of the enemy, causing them to doubt God. We struggle with pondering negativity and impurity. We wrestle with fears and anxieties. Our fallen minds can be susceptible to the power of darkness if we are not careful. We have to seek out the light of Christ.
I love how 2 Corinthians 10:5 uses the strong verb demolish. This is not a fluffy word. This is not an easy task, this is a full blown take down of spiritual warfare. It is kind of like the saying, “Don’t play with fire.” If we give the sinful thoughts any space in our heads, it is a danger. If we entertain anxious thoughts and create scenarios, it will lead to our own destruction. We can demolish arguments and every pretension or we can be demolished by them. We might appear to be the targets, but ultimately the attacks from the enemy are against God.
Take Captive Every Thought
On our own, we cannot achieve this. We need the Holy Spirit’s help to put on the full armor of God and protect our thought lives. We are weak, but Christ is strong and His power rests within the heart of every believer. Jesus died and rose on our behalf. He made a way to be reunited with the Father. The same power that rose Jesus from the grave is within all of His disciples. He is the One who enables us to take every thought captive. This is impossible on our own. When that hateful thought begins, the Spirit helps us nip it in the bud. When the fear sneaks up on us, we can talk back to it with Scripture. When our minds are tempted, we can cry out to the Lord and ask Him to help us think on things above. Taking thoughts captive means that we are active in our approach, we take our hearts and minds seriously and rely on the Holy Spirit to lead us into victory.
Make Every Thought Obedient to Christ
Lastly, I love how this verse tells us to make every thought obedient to Christ. We do not just want to get rid of unhealthy and sinful thinking, we want to make it obedient to our Savior. We can bring Him our thoughts and ask Him to help us within the struggle. We can remember that although our minds are powerful, our God is much greater than any thought. This is where we see change in patterns. My mother-in-law recently shared some fun facts about what she learned about neurology. She told me that thoughts that are negative actually appear to look like a dying tree on a brain scan, but thoughts that are positive appear as a healthy, amazing tree. We have to make choices each day if we want our minds to focus on life or death; things of the Spirit, or things of the flesh. When we make our thoughts obedient to Jesus, we are laying down our sins and retraining our patterns of thought to think on the things that He desires for us. He is life and we can find great freedom in Him.
Intersecting Faith and Life:
What are some difficult thoughts in which you have been battling lately? How can you demolish the lies and sinful thinking? How can you begin to take your thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ daily?
Further Reading:
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