In this verse, Paul tells us two ways he wages war on behalf of the gospel. First, he demolishes arguments and pretensions that set themselves up against “the knowledge of God.” Second, he takes every thought captive and makes it obedient to Christ.
Demolishing arguments and pretensions seems easy enough, doesn’t it? After all, who doesn’t like to battle over what they believe to be true? Almost no one backs down when they wholeheartedly believe in something strongly enough.
The last part is more tricky, though, isn’t it?
That’s the part that is much harder to do.
Taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.
Doing that means we have to think and live the way Christ would have us think and live. I don’t know about you, but I mess up on this a lot.
My thoughts are all over the place on any given day. Reeling them in and bringing them into obedience to Christ is not a natural thing for me to do—and I’m sure I’m not the only one.
I’m always thinking about what has been, what I’m dealing with currently, and what’s to come in the future.
None of us can see the future. We can look back at the past and know what we do and don’t want in our lives. We can look at what is happening right now and think about ways to make things better, hoping and praying for a better outcome when all is said and done.
But what if we thought about all of it through the lens of taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ?
That is something I sometimes struggle with—especially when I want to control the outcome myself.
I'm sure you understand that because you may struggle with the same thing.
I can pray about something and then, not long afterward, find myself trying to figure out how I can fix it. I can give something to God and then start taking it back with my thoughts, my worries, my plans, and my attempts to control the outcome.
Maybe that's exactly where taking our thoughts captive becomes so important.
We have to recognize the thought, hold it up against what we know about God, and then decide whether we are going to let that thought control us—or surrender it to Him.
No one ever said living our lives in obedience to Christ would be easy. It most certainly isn't.
My flesh is always fighting with my spirit in a tug-of-war, with one wanting to win out over the other. I'm thankful that, more often than not, I give way to my spirit. But sometimes it takes me realizing that I've allowed my flesh to get in the way before I finally surrender that thought, that worry, that fear, or that desire for control back to God.
And I'm just glad that Christ wins out in the end.
Maybe that's what I need to remind myself of more often:
I don't have to win every battle in my mind. I just have to surrender every thought to the One who has already won the greatest battle.
Walking with Him is what truly matters.
Giving my thoughts to Him makes all the difference—not only for me, but for my family and the way I live my life.
Will things always go the way I think they should? No. We are living in a fallen world, and difficult things will happen. Disappointments will come. Plans will change. Some things will hurt.
But I know Who is with me.
I know Who holds my past, my present, and my future.
I know Who sees what I cannot see.
And I know that when I surrender my thoughts to Him, I don't have to carry the weight of figuring everything out on my own.
“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
That's more than just a verse to read.
It's a way to live.
And for me, it's a daily reminder that when my mind starts running ahead, behind, or in a hundred different directions, I can stop, take that thought captive, and bring it back to Christ.
Because my thoughts may not always be under control—but they can always be surrendered to the One who is.
