Day 179, Year 1

Overcoming the Battle of the Mind

… “Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5 NKJV)

The verse indicates that believers need to deal with the battle in our minds in two ways. First, we need to destroy everything that eliminates the knowledge of God in us; and second, bring every thought into obedience to Christ. This verse seems to use the imagery of warfare from the Old Testament to describe the internal battle of believers. Everything hostile to Jesus, like enemy soldiers, needs to be completely extinguished. Meanwhile, everything that can be captured and utilized, such as virgins, children, and livestock from the enemy, should be converted to serve God.

“Casting down” is kathaireo in Greek, which also means “to demolish, pull down, or destroy.” We need to dismantle and demolish everything that hinders us from knowing God. According to the following verse, “arguments” also include alternative authorities. Paul goes on to point out that some Corinthians believed in and followed certain “most eminent apostles” (2 Corinthians 11:5) instead of him. But those “apostles” were not truly the greatest. If people believe in Jesus while also believing in alternative authorities, they will often end up discarding Jesus. For instance, idolatry is widespread, be it traditional idols, celebrities, or video games etc. Idols obviously obstruct people’s hearts from truly believing in Jesus. So, we must eliminate everything that opposes the authority of Jesus in our hearts. Otherwise, we will ultimately end up on the path of unbelief.”

Bringing … into captivity” in today’s verse is aichmalotizo in Greek, which also means “to lead away captive.” That is to say, all of a believer’s thoughts must be taken captive and made obedient to Jesus. The verse here indicates another aspect. Any thoughts that do not actually oppose the sovereignty of Jesus should be transformed to obey Him or be used by Him when possible. For example, some people love thinking. Before believing in Jesus, they might have harbored many malicious schemes. However, after conversion, they can harness God’s wisdom to convert many thoughts into spiritual meditations. Similarly, some people really enjoy interacting with others. Hence, after believing in Him, they gain a new mission to share God’s Word and encourage others to believe in and obey Him. Usually, within the first few years of believing, we would have won with most of the battles in our minds, or otherwise, we would likely be in trouble.

Reflection questions:

1) Have you been thorough in destroying the thoughts and habits that are hostile to Jesus in you?

2) Do you have any difficulties in bringing every thought to obey or serve Jesus? If so, how will you overcome them with His help?