Bring thoughts into captivity – 2 Corinthians 10:5

“Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;” 2 Corinthians 10:5

Our thoughts impact us more than we realize.  God’s thoughts toward us are for peace and not to harm us. (Jer 29:11)  His thoughts are more than be counted and precious.  (Psalm 139) 

As a man thinks in his heart… he is. (Prov 23:7)

We must control our thoughts.  In order to do so we must realize that “a thought” and “to think” are different.

Thoughts start outside of us.  They come to us… either through the Holy Spirit, through the enemy, through outside stimuli (like TV or Internet), or through people (not from people.) 

Thoughts are things we receive or accept.

But we choose to think.  And how and what we choose to think on makes all the difference.

To think is to meditate on something, to consider it.  In order to think you must form a perception.  The way our minds work is through metaphor.  We relate new things to old things in order to make sense of them… in order to perceive them… in order to make a decision.

When something new comes, in order to feel comfortable with it, or to “own” it and put it to use we need to categorize it.

Misperception is when we place something into the wrong category.

When I use to read 2 Corinthians 10:5 I read it only as saying that every thought needs to be brought to into captivity to obey Christ.  And while that is true, and powerful, consider the following:

What was the obedience of Christ?

He was obedient unto death, even death on a cross.

Not only are we to take every through captive to obey Christ (for we are to have the mind of Christ)… but we are to bring every thought back to the cross of Christ.

Our entire lives have to be changed when we encounter Christ at the cross.  It must be always before us.  We can never forget what He has done. 

It changes our perception.

It places the thoughts in the right category.

Take every thought back to the cross… what would it look like with His blood upon it… covered in His agape love?

SDG