Freedom To Think Like Christ

We demolish arguments and every high-minded thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. 

2 Corinthians 10:4-5

Do you believe God more than the thoughts that enter your mind? This is a good question for each of us to ask ourselves if we're carrying the label of "Christian". For if we say we serve Christ, yet will not allow His truth to change our minds, our words are just a meaningless vapor. We cannot serve Him without full surrender; Our surrender is the best gift we can give Him. Believing God goes hand-in-hand with surrendering and it is a requirement for all true Christ-followers. But in all honesty, it took me forever to realize that.

"Now without faith it is impossible to please God..." Hebrews 11:6

I have had more unhealthy thought patterns than I can count. Do you know how God revealed them to me, how He got around my walled-in mind? He led me to scripture that exposed it. When He did, I heard myself say, " No matter what God says here, I am going to believe what I believe." I heard myself blatantly refuse to believe God.  I realized that I was so tied to my thoughts that I held them to the same level of His truth. I was guilty of withholding my thought patterns from the God I had claimed to believe in. And that bothered me. It didn't change overnight, but little-by-liitle, as I surrendered my thoughts, I began to think like a new person. 

It's not just me. We all have a tendency to put our thoughts in front of the truths of God. We have this idea that if we think it, it must be true. But our thoughts are nowhere near truth in comparison to God's. Those thoughts we continually hold up as truth regardless of what God says are called strongholds. They give us the illusion that we're in control, when instead they hold us in bondage. They keep us from growing and being more like Christ.

Our minds are the hardest things to surrender. This doesn't mean we're called to stop using our brains, but to test everything we think against God's Word. It means God's truth reigns in our minds over any untruthful thought we have.  But it's a conscious and consistent requirement on our parts. Our minds can slip and fall into any ol' mess. We must continually make the choice to believe Him above anything or anyone else. It's the path to true freedom. Pursue God with endless surrender and He will set you free.