Take Every Thought Captive

“We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” — 2 Corinthians 10:5

Recently, I was on a flight home and was sitting in a row all by myself. I thought to myself, “This will be a good time to pray and talk with the Holy Spirit.”

I had my eyes closed, and as we were ascending into the air, I heard something hit the floor. When I opened my eyes, I noticed a silver-colored object lying near the window seat. I began trying to figure out what in the world it could be. My first thought was that it must be a part that had fallen off the seat in front of my row, which had a passenger buckled in. I remembered a previous flight years ago when our flight was delayed because a piece of metal from a seat needed to be repaired before they could clear us to fly.

Immediately, my mind began to wander: “Should I ring the button and alert the flight attendant?” Of course, she was also buckled into her seat because, as I mentioned, we were ascending — not exactly a great time to stir up panic! I decided I would wait to alert her until we leveled off. Then I thought, “Hopefully, whatever that object was wouldn't cause them to turn the plane around!”

I kept staring at the object and praying that my Heavenly Father was watching over our flight, just as He always has.

Finally, after we leveled off and I was able to unbuckle, the lady sitting behind me leaned forward and asked if I would please allow her access to my row. Her baby had thrown his pacifier, and it had landed on the floor next to me.

I laughed inside, realizing how quickly my imagination had gotten away from me and built up a situation about something being wrong with the aircraft — when all along, it was only a harmless pacifier!

I started thinking...

God tells us to take our thoughts captive. “Why did my thoughts drift to there being something wrong with the plane? Where did that thought even originate from?” That little incident caused me to stop and think about the battle that takes place in our minds.

The Battle for Our Thoughts

When it comes to our thought life, there are three biblical influences that can direct how our thoughts take shape: God, Satan, and our own flesh.

God’s influence comes through His Word and by His Spirit. The Holy Spirit takes up residence within a believer to guide us, lead us into truth, give us peace, bring things to remembrance, produce godly fruit in us, convict us of sin, and give us wisdom for godly living. He is our Helper.

Jesus said of the Holy Spirit, “The Helper, the Holy Spirit, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you” (John 14:26 NLT). He also said, “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come” (John 16:13 NKJV). And Paul reminds us, “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (2 Timothy 1:7 NLT).

Satan’s influence is deceptive and demonic. He seeks to deceive us, tempt us, accuse us, fill us with fear, confuse us, and discourage us. His desire is to distort truth and pull us away from God. In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus explains in Matthew 13:19, “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart.” Revelation 12:10 calls Satan “the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night.” And 1 John 4:18 reminds us, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment.”

Then there is the influence of our own “flesh,” which stems from the human mind and our carnality — our own desires, personal reasoning, memories, imaginations, emotions, fears, experiences, and sinful nature. Sometimes a thought is simply the result of our own human mind at work.

Jeremiah 17:9 tells us, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” James 1:14–15 says, “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” 1 John 2:16 also reminds us that “all that is in the world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life — is not of the Father but is of the world.”

Understanding these three influences is important because not every thought is from God, and not every negative thought is from Satan. Sometimes our own mind, emotions, memories, or desires are influencing what we are thinking.

Triggers

When a thought first enters our mind, our subconscious can work somewhat like an old filing cabinet filled with both positive and negative memories. Without our active awareness, it can subconsciously search to see whether that thought connects to a past experience or memory. It may bring that memory forward, triggering the emotions attached to it. When our emotions become involved, we can begin moving toward an automatic reaction, similar to an automatic reflex.

That is exactly what happened to me on the plane.

My subconscious pulled out the file from that previous flight when a piece of metal had caused a delay. Suddenly, I jumped from seeing a small silver object on the floor to wondering if something was wrong with the seat — and uncertainty and panic began to creep in. My mind had created a scenario and reaction based on a previous experience.

Since the subconscious learns through repetition and cannot always distinguish between what is real and what we imagine, we must learn how to operate in those moments in a way that invites God into the situation and restores peace.

This is where taking our thoughts captive becomes so important.

Taking Thoughts Captive

So, how can we better discern whether a thought is coming from God, Satan, or simply our own flesh? Perhaps we can begin by asking: Does this thought agree with God’s Word, and where is it leading me? God will never lead us to believe or do something that contradicts His Word.

Here are some questions we can ask ourselves to help discern where our thoughts are originating:

• Does the thought align with Scripture? Jesus said in John 17:17, “Your word is truth.” Ask yourself, “Can I find biblical support for this thought? Does it agree with what God’s Word says?”

• What kind of fruit does this thought produce? Jesus said, “You will know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16). Galatians 5:22–23 tells us, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” What is this thought producing in me? Is it producing the fruit of the Spirit, or is it producing fear, confusion, anger, hopelessness, or something else?

• Does this thought draw me toward God or away from Him? James 4:8 says, “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.” God invites us into His presence. He does not want us running away from Him. Does this thought draw you closer to God, or does it make you want to hide from Him?

• Is this thought conviction or condemnation? Conviction says, “You did something wrong. Turn back to God.” Condemnation says, “You are hopeless. God doesn’t want you. There is no point in trying.” Romans 8:1 tells us, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” The Holy Spirit may convict us of sin, but His conviction always points us back toward repentance and restoration with God. Condemnation leaves us feeling hopeless and separated from Him.

• Does this thought agree with the character of God? First Corinthians 14:33 says, “God is not a God of confusion but of peace.” Does this thought align with God as He is revealed in Scripture? God is holy, truthful, merciful, just, loving, patient, and faithful. The more we know God’s character, the easier it becomes to recognize what sounds like Him — and what doesn’t.

• Could this simply be my flesh, emotions, or reasoning? James 1:14 says, “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.” Not every strange, negative, angry, fearful, or impulsive thought means Satan is attacking us. Sometimes we are tired. Sometimes we are angry, afraid, or hurt. Sometimes we are triggered by something from our past and begin imagining outcomes, causing us to react emotionally or reason incorrectly.

In my situation, the enemy wasn’t doing anything at all. It was just a pacifier!

In and Through Christ

Wherever a thought originates — from the enemy, our own flesh, our emotions, or simply an incorrect assumption — we still have a responsibility to examine it and bring it before Christ. “We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).

Notice the word every.

Taking every thought captive isn’t about living in fear or becoming suspicious of every thought that enters our minds. It is about developing discernment. It is learning to recognize God’s truth, recognize the desires of our own flesh, recognize the deception of the enemy, and then choose to bring our thinking under the authority of Christ.

We don’t have to obey every thought that enters our minds. We don’t have to believe every thought. We don’t have to act on every thought. We can stop. We can examine it. We can compare it with Christ and His Word. We can reject what is false. And we can bring it into obedience.

Thought → Examine It → Compare It with Christ → Reject What Is False → Bring It Into Obedience

I think God used that little pacifier incident to have me stop and ponder what it really means to take my thoughts captive. And I think He has such a great sense of humor too!

Father, in the name of Jesus, give me discernment. Help me recognize Your truth, recognize the desires of my own flesh, and recognize the deception of the enemy. Guard my mind and my heart. Help me take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ. Let Your Word be the standard by which I test everything. Give me wisdom without fear, discernment without suspicion, and courage to reject anything that is contrary to You. In Jesus' name, Amen.

In His Love,

Amy