Read: 2 Corinthians 10:5
“We demolish arguments and every high-minded thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive to obey Christ.”
Understand:
- What are we to do with our thoughts?
Listen: When I was first thinking about this topic for today’s devotion, my first thought was to consider how others can contribute to how we think about ourselves. But, I think, instead, I want to focus on how we contribute to these thoughts and how we allow those thoughts to affect us. One of my favorite topics to read about is how the way we view ourselves affects us overall. There are so many books out there that want to help us overcome ourselves and many focus on positive thinking. This isn’t to say that in everything that is happening that we find something good in it. What this means is being able to halter a different perspective and use it in a beneficial way. One way we can do this is by learning to harness our self-talk so we are not continually allowing negative thoughts to enter our brain. For example, if we don’t have enough information about something that is occurring, we might have a tendency to think the worst. Maybe we were expecting a phone call and instead of wondering if maybe the person simply was overly busy, we allow a thought to come into our minds degrading ourselves or thinking we weren’t important enough to remember to call. Positive self-talk is training our brain to dismiss something, especially if we don’t have all of the facts, and think more realistically. Chances are my friend, who has three children, wasn’t able to call because of being tired or having to run a last minute errand for one of her children. Don’t allow your brain to drift into a negative doldrum. This takes training! It isn’t something that you can learn overnight but it is something that you will be successful doing if you will continue training your brain.
We’ve talked a lot about how scripture tells us to take every thought captive, such is our verse for today. I use this verse a lot but it’s because this is a verse that should be put to memory. There is a reason we are told to take thoughts captive. If we don’t, they can affect our health as well as our relationships. They can affect the trajectory of our life! Take time to develop the practice of controlling your thoughts. You might not be able to keep them from sneaking in but you can stop them before they take hold of you and lead you down a destructive path. You can do this. Practice and be diligent in your efforts. Persevere and believe!
Pray: Dear Heavenly Father, You have given us the ability to overcome negative thoughts and negative self-talk. Help us to see ourselves through Your eyes and to practice changing our perspective to reflect Your glory. In Jesus name we pray, amen.
Majacka Literary Creations 