Thoughts About Thoughts

The Bible encourages us to control our thoughts and actions. But sometimes it seems our thoughts are controlled by our emotions. What can we do about that?

“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 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 10:4-5, emphasis added).

This is one of those scriptures many of us probably have memorized. Used in combination with Philippians 4:8, its point seems clear. If you think about something enough, you’re probably going to end up doing it. Therefore, if your thoughts are in control and you’re thinking on what’s pure and good, your actions will be pure and good.

What about feelings?

But what about your feelings? What about those pesky emotions, the ones that seem to come out of nowhere? A guy cuts you off in traffic after you’ve had a bad day at work and you’re upset. Being a good Christian, you don’t make rude gestures or curse through the window. You might even begin the process of stopping angry thoughts, and eventually, maybe, you do stop being angry. But sometimes, we still end up feeling lousy the rest of the night. If so, our spouses and our children will notice.

Some people struggle with depression and anxiety. They wake up feeling emotions that seem out of their control: vague feelings of hopelessness, nervousness, grief, sadness, pessimism and fear. Their whole day may be spent trying to squelch these feelings, only to end up exhausted and feeling more defeated by the effort.

So, where do emotions fit in? How are thoughts connected to feelings?

Emotions are chemical reactions our body gives in response to things around us, right?

It does often seem that a feeling or an emotion will start before bad thoughts ever do. If you wake up feeling nervous and worried, you surmise it’s about your not so great job or your poor health, and it seems pretty easy to see from where negative thoughts come. They’re an automatic response to your bad situation, right?

Where do emotions come from?

In fact, some scientists use evolutionary theories to back this up, saying emotions are just a remnant of our “fight or flight” response. Some feel this is a response we cannot control.

However, there are other schools of thought that discredit this theory. We can see it ourselves, just in the examples of those maddeningly positive people who can wake up each morning thinking, “Today is going to be a great day!” no matter their circumstances. And we, as Christians, know that God would never give us a biological response that contradicts His law and that we have zero control over.

So what does this mean? I know myself, when I wake up in the morning feeling anxious and apprehensive about my day, I don’t wake up “thinking.” I wake up “feeling.” But why would you wake up feeling something when nothing has happened?

The thing is, our brains work so quickly that we don’t even realize we are thinking before the emotions flood our bodies. Throughout the day, our brains are continually thinking, directing us, telling us what to do. This is how you can drive to work and get there safely, but not remember the drive.

Our minds are so intricate that we can think thoughts we don’t even realize we are thinking. That is where those emotions we can’t seem to control can come from. And frankly, I believe God expects us to try to control those emotions.

Pinning down thoughts

So once again, we circle back to 2 Corinthians 10:5: “Bringing every thought into captivity.” If even our subconscious thoughts can bring ungodly emotions and attitudes, obviously God expects us to be in control of them as well, right?

“Bringing every thought into captivity” is actually the basis of a modern psychology technique called cognitive-behavioral therapy. The premise is to pin down every thought, identify it as rational or irrational, negative or positive, and acknowledge it as such, and then work to change those thoughts that need to change. Even man apart from God understands the need to think positive, pure and good things. If we understand this humanly, it is obvious how much more God understands this since He commanded it in His Bible long ago.

But how can you pin down a thought that you don’t even know you’re thinking? It seems a bit unfair of God to expect us to bring thoughts into captivity that we don’t even know exist.

Well, when you study the scripture further, the phrase “bringing into captivity” is translated from the Greek word aichmalotizo, meaning, “To lead away captive … to subjugate, to bring under control” (Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, 1985, “Captive, Captivity”).

When you think about a soldier taking an enemy captive, what comes to mind? Perhaps you think of the soldier searching for the enemy, wherever he might be hiding. Taking enemies captive requires that soldiers find them, before they can lead them away.

Bringing our thoughts into captivity isn’t just about capturing the loud, easy thoughts lying on the surface of our consciousness; it’s about searching deep in our minds to find those hidden thoughts that dictate our underlying attitudes, our most frustrating emotions and our very outlook on life.

A deeper look at thoughts

One of the exercises of cognitive-behavioral therapy is to identify a trigger situation, and then identify the emotion that comes, but then also pin down what your thoughts are doing. What was I thinking when the situation occurred? Because in reality, those thoughts came first. The emotion came after.

I have put this exercise into practice myself; and I tell you, this exercise gives 2 Corinthians 10:5 a much heavier and even more sobering meaning than ever before. It is more than just being sure not to think poorly of someone else or to avoid thinking lustfully—it’s more than our conscious thoughts. Though this type of focused thinking about our thoughts is a difficult and even painful challenge, used with the other tools God has given us (prayer, fasting and Bible study), it is a spiritual exercise that can bring wonderful results!

Rebecca Keener attends the Cincinnati/Dayton, Ohio, congregation of the Church of God, a Worldwide Association, with her husband Matt.

For more thoughts about thinking and emotions, see:

• What Is Meditation?
• What's Your Emotional Intelligence?
• Hurt Feelings
• Dealing With Mental Health Issues