How Do I Take a Thought Captive? | Therapy & Theology

This video is taken from the Therapy & Theology episode “Can We Control What We Think About?” Watch the full conversation here

Through podcast reviews, direct messages on social media, and more, Lysa TerKeurst; Licensed Professional Counselor Jim Cress; and Proverbs 31 Ministries’ Director of Theological Research, Dr. Joel Muddamalle, collected your most asked questions. Now they’re rolling out a whole new season on Therapy & Theology: “You Asked … We’re Answering.”

Feelings aren’t meant to be fixed; they’re meant to be felt. Jennie Allen wants to help you discover how to lean into this truth with her new book, Untangle Your Emotions: Naming What You Feel and Knowing What to Do About It.

And the best news is … Untangle Your Emotions is the first book pick for the brand-new Circle 31 Book Club with Proverbs 31 Ministries! This is your space to walk through life-changing messages with life-giving friends. Get your book, and start reading with us

Jim mentioned take everything, thought captive, and make it obedient to Christ.
Yeah.
I love that verse. I’ve quoted that verse. Up top that verse.
And yet at times when I’m really having an intrusive thought, I’m like, how do I take this cat What do I do to it?
How do I make it obedient to Christ?
Because the emotion, um, that’s tied to the thought like the feelings.
Maybe it’s a feeling of fear, anxiety, um, whatever it is, sometimes that screaming so loud that it’s really hard to settle down into what this verse is instructing me to do.
Yeah.
I was just listening to you guys talk, and I think what’s super fascinating is the description of the events that the both of you were kind of working through really does have an absolutely edenic kind of echo to me in the sets.
Um, I think it’s super, super important for us to always test every thought with the ability of the truth, right?
And what do I mean by that?
1, in your situation in the bathroom, like that type of thing, I think safety is always the most important thing.
So I just think about, like, if it was my daughter, if it was Brit, my wife, I’d be like, get out.
Like, if you have that trust your discernment and then pay attention to the pattern, though, I think it’s fascinating that Chaz came back in and said, Hey, I kinda had this word.
Are you okay? Right? So back to your mystery thought, We have a very real Holy Spirit who is our paroclete, our helper, our guardian.
But what the Holy Spirit is consistently going to do is to guide us in the pathway of truth. Mhmm.
You know? And so we have a gift in other brothers and sisters in Christ who are able to speak with who are able to identify patterns for us.
I wanna go back to Eden and and especially with this intrusive thought idea, um, think about what the Serpent does with Eve.
The first thought, up until this point, the thought framework for Adam and Eve is guardrailed by the truths of god’s word.
But what the serpent does is present an intrusive a thought that ought not be there, right?
A thought that is contrary to the truth of god But what even Adam don’t do is go back to the source of truth.
They entertain a thought, and that entertainment of that thought becomes a which turns into a crisis in their lives.
And it’s not that the thought itself is is improper, especially after the fall.
Like, we’re gonna have all kinds of crazy thoughts and ideas, and it’s gonna feel um, dis disregulating for us, but the question consistently as believers as Christians, people being led by the Holy Spirit is to go back to the source of truth.
I wanna get into the 2nd Corinthians passage, but I always have had this thought at least, um, and Jim, why didn’t Eve and Adam just say to the to the Nikoche, the Hebrew word is for the Serpent.
That’s a great thought. Hold up one second. Let’s go grab Yahweh.
Or better yet, tell the serpent in Genesis 2 or Genesis 3.
Like, if you have questions, go ask god yourself.
Go ask him yourself. Absolutely. And the other interesting detail is that in Genesis 3 were being told that, um, there’s this indication that it was routine for God to walk with Adam and Eve in, and the connotations of the Hebrew language there is there’s a routine to it.
And the goal of the walk didn’t have a destination in mind. It was leisurely. So there’s plenty of space.
It was relationship. It was relationship. Yeah. Yeah. You’re not trying to get to your destination.
You’re trying to establish a quality of relationship in between the walk. That’s happening.
Um, and so again, going back to the source of truths is this, and you kinda did that with the bathroom scenario.
It’s like, wait a minute, I had this feeling. Chad’s kind of affirmed it.
I’m in a place that might not be safe and then identify, okay, are there patterns?
Um, when we get to 2nd Corinthians chapter 10, and it’s a a passage that’s quoted all the time, Let me go ahead and read it for us.
2nd Corinthians chapter 10 starting in verse 4. Um, Paul says this is church in Corinth.
Since the weapons of our warfare are not flesh, but are powerful through god for the demolition of strongholds.
If you’re circling or taking notes, you wanna highlight that word stronghold.
He says this, we, which I think is is interesting that it’s 2nd person plural, right?
Like, um, the the we idea of it, we demolish arguments, and every proud thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God.
And we take every thought captive to obey Christ. Okay. What are these strongholds?
These strongholds, I think, are in this context, thoughts that are contrary to the truth of god.
One of the questions that we wanna ask is, are the emotions, the intrusive thoughts that we’re experiencing as we’re evaluating them?
Are they obstacles that are actually setting us up against the knowledge and the wisdom of god.
And if there are obstacles that are setting this up against the knowledge and wisdom of god, these are things like what you said, Jim, that you watch the bird and you’re like, bye, see you.
You don’t belong here. Right? Um, the the phrase taking captives It’s actually a military.
It has a military context to it. And the picture is prisoners of war.
Uh, you would see this in the ancient world all the time.
You know, prisoners prisoners of war, Super important here. Paul is addressing the thought, not the person.
The thought that is against the wisdom of god is actually attempting to take the person and make them a prisoner.
What Paul is saying is don’t let the thought make you a prisoner.
You actually, by the power of the Holy Spirit, have the availability to properly and appropriately address the thought.
And if the thought is against the wisdom of god, you take that thought captive.
Instead of letting that thought hijack you. Exactly.