Is Your Thought Life a Blessing or a Curse?

Fresh Manna 2009© by Pastor Tim Burt

I have written many times about how my mind used to be like a busy intersection with no traffic signs—thoughts flying in every direction without boundaries or controls. Before I knew Jesus and had ever opened or read a Bible, and in the early days of my Christianity, my thought life was out of control. I truly thought that everyone’s mind was plagued with racing thoughts. I thought it was impossible to have control of the thoughts that raced through my mind and imagination. I simply thought I was my own victim—forced to think about whatever surfaced in my mind. One of the first and greatest discoveries in my new life in Jesus was to learn that this was not true. God didn’t create me to be a victim of my own mind. He created me to be the superintendent and the sheriff of my mind and thoughts.

When I first heard the verses in 2 Cor 10:5 preached, it rocked me to my core. “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” I can still hear the Pastor’s words that have now become my own – “Your mind belongs to you! God gave it to you to be a blessing. He gave it to you to learn and think and discover the secrets of His Kingdom and the secrets of this beautiful creation He has placed you in. He has given you a mind and an imagination and the ability to control it for the purpose of being a blessing—to yourself and to others. The Holy Spirit was given and placed within you by God to teach and instruct you in what you learn and think. This is God’s plan to help you become an influence and blessing in this world.”

Those powerful words of 2 Cor 10 changed my world. “Casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God…” I had the assignment of controlling and policing my thought life. It continued, “And bringing EVERY thought into the obedience of Christ.” This was outright revolutionary to me.

Over the next two years, I probably experienced the most change I’ve ever experienced in my life. I was truly being transformed. Taking control over what I never knew I could with the help of God’s Holy Spirit gave me the authority I desperately needed. I never stopped using this authority and discipline and it is still one of the greatest revelations of the Christ-life I’ve ever experienced. Which leads me to ask… how is your thought life?

Romans 12:2 (NLT) Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.

In His love,
Pastor Tim