Devotional reading from “Winning the Battle for Your Mind,” Chapter Four ~ Problems We Have With our Minds
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Today’s Lesson
2 Corinthians 10:5, Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,
Regarding the context of this passage, some Bible commentators such as William Barclay suggest that this part of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians addressed a matter specific to their criticism of Paul. Barclay writes;
Now we have come to a section of the letter which is very hard to understand--and for this reason, that we are hearing only one side of the argument. We are hearing only Paul's reply. We do not know accurately what the charges were which the Corinthians leveled against him; we have to deduce them from the answers which Paul gives. (Barclay’s commentary)
For an application of this text to our lives today, we will draw from The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Daily Bible:
Through the presence of the Holy Spirit, we have the ability to screen, select, admit, and cultivate what goes into our minds. By His power, we can prevent our minds from taking a wrong turn and wandering into evil, but we must choose to focus on what is godly and good (Philippians 4:8).
Through Christ, we also have the ability to choose how we will think about what we perceive with our senses. While we have no control over some things that come into our field of vision or within our range of hearing, we do control how we will think about what we perceive or sense and how we will act on that information.
When things come into our range of sensation or perception, we must immediately evaluate them through the “filter” of God’s Word. If we find ourselves dwelling on a thought, we must ask ourselves, “Why am I thinking this? What is at the root of my thought? What will happen if I continue to think this way? Is that really the direction I want my life to go?” Never act on ungodly impulses, desires, and lusts. You can choose to think godly thoughts, act according to His will, and “do all [things] to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians. 10:31).
Dr. Stanley writes, “When things come into our range of sensation or perception, we must immediately evaluate them through the ‘filter’ of God’s Word.” This is the act of “bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.”
An important component of renewing your mind is not only “thinking” your thoughts, but “examining” your thoughts. This is more challenging than it may seen because thinking is obviously normal and we tend to justify whatever we think. However, these Scriptures challenge that assumption:
Proverbs 21:2, A person may think their own ways are right, but the LORD weighs the heart
Proverbs 12:15, A fool’s way is right in his own eyes but whoever listen to counsel is wise.
2 Corinthians 13:5, Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified
“Testing” ourselves is a great exercise in self-awareness.
REFLECTION QUESTIONS AND ACTIVITY:
1. What does it look like to screen, select, admit, and cultivate what goes into our minds?
2. Take some time to “think about” your thoughts and ask yourself, “Are my thoughts consistent with the will of God? Am I thinking thoughts of love and support for others.
3. Do I imagine things that I have no way of knowing?”
ACTION ITEMS (What I will do with what I have learned):
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