Is every thought that pops into our head our own? Or perhaps there are external influences that impact our thought patterns. Businesses across the globe understand that advertising has a direct positive effect on the sales and success of a product or service. Leading up to World War 2 the German government used propaganda to increase the people's acceptance of going to war with it's neighboring nations. So if indeed our thought life has the capacity of being manipulated by outside forces, what should we do about it? Should we even be concerned with what is or isn't influencing our thought life? I believe that yes, it is crucial for us to be conscious of what thoughts we accept to live in our minds.
Taking Thoughts Captive
...we take every thought captive to make it obey Christ.
2 Corinthians 10:5
So how do we manage our thought life by taking a thought captive? I believe it starts by observing our thoughts from our heart instead of our mind. It's from this place that we can disregard the negative thoughts coming against us.
2 Corinthians mentions to make our thought life obey Christ. So who is Christ? Christ is liberty, justice, serenity, virtue, honor and hope. Christ is a loving state of mind! If we choose to believe in the power of Christ we can begin to speak back against negative thoughts.
For example you might think that you are lesser than your peers because they are more talented than you at some random thing. If you agree with that thought it can become a thinking pattern that will have a negative effect on your life. You'll start to have the feeling of being "not good enough". That is a lie that you should not accept. When these worthless thoughts present themselves just talk back to them with Christ thoughts; such as, "I am able to do all things through the one who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13) or, "Everything belongs to me, and I belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God (1 Corinthians 3:22-23).
Renewing Your Mind
Do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind...
Romans 12:2
Renewing our mind starts with challenging the thoughts we think. Let's imagine you have a co-worker or classmate who does things that make you feel annoyed. You think, "This person needs to stop bothering me, or they should change their ways." We can challenge these thoughts by asking ourselves the question, "Is that really true?" Does that person truly need to do what you believe they should do? Is their behavior the problem or is it your thoughts about them that is the problem? The truth is we are only in control of our own thought life; we are not in control of other peoples actions or circumstances outside of ourselves. What if you turned the thoughts around to say, "I need to stop being bothered by them and I should change my ways."
Now instead of feeling negative and resentful towards others you are setting yourself up for maturity and growth as a person. I've found it helpful to name the negative emotions I feel; sometimes I feel angry or frustrated and I'm not even conscious of where these emotions came from. After taking time to confess that I am "angry" and "frustrated" I'm able to realize what triggered it; then deal with it and return to serenity.
Conclusion
Let us continue to have awareness of the fact that we are much more than our thoughts and emotions. We have the power within us to observe, challenge, and overcome the negative thoughts we sometimes think or emotions we feel. Serenity in Christ is the natural state of our soul; let's make serenity our normal state. Cheers friends.
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