In 2 Corinthians 10: 5 we are told to take our thoughts captive and to make them obedient to Christ.
One of the definitions that I like about ‘captive’ is to keep our thoughts enslaved. That means Christ is the owner of our minds and all our judgments and every thought is a slave to Him and must pass by what His Word says.
Who told you that?
If something is being held captive, then someone is in control of it. Jesus is the one who is in control of our minds since we have died and are now living for Him. We are to keep such tight control over what we dwell on in our minds that it has to first bow down in obedience to Christ.
As Christians, we are told the mindset of the Spirit is life and peace (Rom. 8:6). If I am not living from the place of life and peace then I have to come back to refocus on the Spirit of Christ who lives in me. If I keep my mind fixed on the goodness of God and His great love, I can actually make any other thought turn around and leave my mind. The more I give way to entertaining the things that the enemy plants in my mind the harder it is to keep my mind centered on Christ. We are told to guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, also a picture of keeping them secure under lock and key.
The origin from the thoughts in our minds
From the beginning of time when sin entered the world, man has encountered problems discerning where the thoughts in his mind originated from. In Genesis 3 after Adam and Eve ate from the tree that the Lord had commanded them not to eat from, God asked the couple, “Where are you?”. Adam answered God back in Genesis 3:10, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid”. God replied back, “Who told you that you were naked?” God knew that they were now listening to the voice of someone other than Him because they recognized they were naked.
So, going back to keeping our thoughts guarded, I started asking myself just as God asked Adam- who told you that?
Where did that opinion come from? Who told me that I am unworthy, unlovely and that God would never want to use me? Just like Adam and Eve God will pursue us and ask us this same question, so He can get us to see the lies we believe that originate from our own mind, from others or from the enemy.
The voice of God
We have to know the difference between the voice of God and all the other voices or we can fall prey. God is full of tender mercy and is kind, compassionate and forgiving. He wishes that none would perish, but that all would come to Him. His heart is always motivated out of love and bringing restoration. If we feel condemned or accused it is never from Him.
Dear sister, today if you feel something negative over yourself, who told you that? Recognize the truth and run back to the safe, loving arms of the Father. He speaks worth and value over you as His most prized possession, one worth dying for.
Read also: When your mind is taking its own way
