“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” — 2 Corinthians 10:5
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A distance swimmer was once asked how she mentally stays in a race such as the 800- or 1,500-meter, in which they’re racing for an extended period of time and the medals are decided by mere seconds and sprint-finishes. Her reply was that “you have to focus your thoughts or you become your own worst enemy.” She was implying that there is a potential for self-sabotage if you are letting your mind wander and not concentrating on the task in front of you. It’s easy to go on auto-pilot and cruise control instead of focusing on the little things you need to be doing right in order to give yourself a winning chance.
This brought to mind the Scripture we know well and quote often that we are to “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5, above). The apostle Paul uses a military metaphor by giving us a picture of taking our thoughts prisoner, interrogating and analyzing them, and then bringing them into submission under Jesus’s lordship. We all know our minds are prone to wander — to think things and believe things that are far from the truth. We bring into our walk with Jesus a whole load of false narratives, baggage from our past, lies others have told us, bad habits we wish we could quit, and so much more. We need God’s help to sort through all of these and identify which ones no longer serve us moving forward.
In the world of neuroscience and the study of the human brain, experts are learning more and more about the power of human thoughts and their ability to shape reality as each sees it. On brain scans, they can literally watch the brain chemicals change when they tell someone to think of a positive thought or experience versus a negative one. They’ve also been able to watch the effect over time when someone has repeatedly practiced a life of optimism, hope and gratitude, as opposed to another who has chosen to live in fear, negativity and despair.
Our beliefs literally shape our physiological and biological makeup! And as that codes itself into our DNA, we then pass that along to our offspring, as well as through the encounters we have with people in our everyday life. That means we’re also influencing their brain health and beliefs!
Many of us have beliefs, habits and thoughts about ourselves, God, life and others that we’ve never actually taken the time to pause and question. We’ve accepted certain perspectives as facts and let them shape our reality, instead of asking if they are helpful to us in any way. I think most people could probably stand to do what a neurosurgeon friend of mine calls a “thought biopsy” — to be brave enough to check if our thoughts are propelling us forward and keeping us in the race, or if we’ve let them sidetrack us along the way and hold us back from a life of wholeness and purpose we’re meant to have.
I don’t think we want to be our “own worst enemy.” A little more focus on thinking about what we think about might set us free.
— Katherine Singer
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