Captivating Thoughts Made Captive

But before our feelings and thoughts (hearts and minds) can be guarded, they must be taken captive. We must "take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ" (2 Cor 10:5). Only in this way can the very center of our being become fully subject to the lordship of Jesus.

Thoughts are enormously powerful—more than we usually realize. In a moral context, repeated thoughts will either reinforce our friendship with God or nudge us into an alliance with Satan. In a social context, grace-enriched thoughts tend to nourish the wholesome aspects of our human relationships, while morbid thinking poisons them. Our thoughts will inevitably impact our behavior and speech, as Jesus affirmed: “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. Out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks" (Lk 6:45).

Rogue thoughts are loose cannons on the deck. Judas had a rogue thought—betraying Christ for a handful of silver—and his name became immortalized in infamy. Cain harbored a jealous thought and he slew Abel, committing the world's first murder. Samson nursed lustful thoughts of a harlot, and an entire nation suffered as a result. Haman was obsessed with the thought of hanging Mordecai, but instead he himself was hanged.

Though they may not always lead directly to physical death, thought patterns from the enemy are always destructive. Worry, resentment, doubts, lust, and other such thoughts are emotionally and often physically harmful. Fear plagues many people, often in the form of gripping phobias. Yet these damaging thoughts can be neutralized if we take them captive for Christ.

For example, Scripture tells us 365 times, in various ways, to “fear not," since "the one who fears is not made perfect in love" (1 Jn 4:18). (Here, of John is referring to a morbid fear of punishment from God—not to the gift of fear of the Lord, which is a reverent dread of offending God.) Fear-dissolving trust in the Lord must become a virtuous thought-habit.

Worry is another destructive thought pattern, and Jesus condemns it five times in the sixth chapter of Matthew. When we "take it captive to make it obedient to Christ," anxious worry is transformed into a calm and prayerful concern for God's will.

Or frenetic distraction may be our problem. If so, we must turn gently inward to the Lord. Gradually, we will find these troublesome thoughts replaced by a stillness of soul, a tranquil prayer of the mind—a grace-filled awareness of the presence of God: "Be still and know that I am God" (Ps 46.10).

This excerpt is from the book The Art of Loving God by John H. Hampsch, C.M.F., originally published by Servant Publications, 1995. This and other of Fr. Hampsch's books and audio/visual materials can be purchased from Claretian Teaching Ministry, 20610 Manhattan Pl, #120, Torrance, CA 90501-1863. Phone 1-310-782-6408.