"How can I take control of my thoughts?"
article: gotquestions.orgMany Christians struggle with this issue, especially in our highly technological world, but taking control of our thoughts is essential. Proverbs 4:23 states, "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." The “heart” includes the mind and all that proceeds from it. Someone said that every sin we commit, we commit twice, once in our thoughts and again when we act upon those thoughts. It is easiest to rid our lives of sin if we attack it at this fundamental thought level rather than waiting for it to become rooted in our lives by our actions and then try to pull it out.

There is also a difference between being tempted (a thought entering into the mind) and sinning (dwelling upon an evil thought and wallowing in it). It is important to understand that when a thought enters our mind, we examine it based upon God's Word and determine if we should continue down that path or reject the thought and replace it with another thought. If we have already allowed a habit to form in our thought lives, it becomes more difficult to change the path of our thoughts, even as it is hard to get a car out of a deep rut and onto a new track. Here are some biblical suggestions for taking control of our thoughts and getting rid of wrong thoughts:

1. Be in God's Word so that when a sinful thought enters our mind (a temptation), we will be able to recognize it for what it is and know what course to take. Jesus in the wilderness (Matthew 4) responded to each of Satan's temptations with Scripture that applied to the direction He knew His mind should take instead of beginning down the path of the sinful thought. When tempted to meet His physical need (turn stone into bread), He recited the passage about the importance of relying upon God. When tempted to serve Satan in order to obtain the glory of the world, He brought up the passage that says we are to serve and worship God alone and speak of the glory that belongs to Him and those who are His.

When tempted to test God (to see if God was really there and would keep His promises), Jesus responded with passages that stress the importance of believing God without having to see Him demonstrate His presence. Quoting Scripture in a time of temptation is not a talisman, but rather serves the purpose of getting our minds onto a biblical track, but we need to know the Word of God AHEAD of time in order to accomplish this. Thus, a daily habit of being in the Word in a meaningful way is essential. If we are aware of a certain area of constant temptation (worry, lust, anger, etc.), we need to study and memorize key passages that deal with those issues. Looking for both what we are to avoid (negative) and how we are to properly respond (positive) to tempting thoughts and situations—before they are upon us—will go a long way to giving us victory over them.

2. Live in dependence upon the Holy Spirit, chiefly through seeking His strength through prayer (Matthew 26:41). If we rely upon our own strength, we will fail (Proverbs 28:26; Jeremiah 17:9; Matthew 26:33).

3. We are not to feed our minds with that which will promote sinful thoughts. This is the idea of Proverbs 4:23. We are to guard our hearts—what we allow into them and what we allow them to dwell on. Job 31:1 states, "I have made a covenant with my eyes; Why then should I look upon a young woman" (NKJV). Romans 13:14 states, "But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts." Thus, we are to avoid periodicals, videos, websites, conversations and situations that will set us up for a fall. We should also avoid spending time with those who would encourage us down these wrong paths.

4. We are to pursue hard after God, substituting godly pursuits and mindsets for sinful thoughts. This is the principle of replacement. When tempted to hate someone, we replace those hateful thoughts with godly actions: we do good to them, speak well of them, and pray for them (Matthew 5:44). Instead of stealing, we should work hard to earn money so we can look for opportunities to give to others in need (Ephesians 4:28). When tempted to lust after a woman, we turn our gaze, praise God for the way He has made us—male and female—and pray for the woman (for example: "Lord, help this young woman to come to know you if she does not, and to know the joy of walking with you"), then think of her as a sister (1 Timothy 5:2). The Bible often speaks of "putting off" wrong actions and thoughts but then "putting on” godly actions and thoughts (Ephesians 4:22-32). Merely seeking to put off sinful thoughts without replacing those thoughts with godly ones leaves an empty field for Satan to come along and sow his weeds (Matthew 12:43-45).

5. We can use fellowship with other Christians the way God intended. Hebrews 10:24-25 states, "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching." Fellow Christians who will encourage us in the changes we desire (best if of the same gender), who will pray for and with us, who will ask us in love how we are doing, and who will hold us accountable in avoiding the old ways, are valuable friends indeed.

Last and most important, these methods will be of no value unless we have placed our faith in Christ as Savior from our sin. This is where we absolutely must start! Without this, there can be no victory over sinful thoughts and temptations, and God’s promises for His children are not for us, nor is the Holy Spirit’s power available to us! If there is any doubt in this area, the area of our website dealing with this all-important issue is: Got Eternal Life? Do you know for sure that you will have eternal life in Heaven with God?.

God will bless those who seek to honor Him with what matters most to Him: who we are inside and not just what we appear to be to others. May God make Jesus’ description of Nathanael true also of us—a man [or woman] in whom there is no guile (John 1:47).

I've noticed that I hold resentment towards some individuals who have hurt me before, it made me angry just to think of them, and makes me sad to discover I dislike some people that much, I should be doing the opposite.

I needed to read that today, thank you.
I pray that God will take our bad thoughts, and turn them into blessings.

Chad,
Thank you for your insight!

Originally Posted by Nermeen

I've noticed that I hold resentment towards some individuals who have hurt me before, it made me angry just to think of them, and makes me sad to discover I dislike some people that much, I should be doing the opposite.

Nermeen,

I used to think that my resentments were emotional "bullets" I could fire at other people that would hurt them just as they've hurt me. Then I learned that whenever I'm entertaining vengeful thoughts toward another person, that person usually isn't nearby so he/she can feel the heat of my wrath, or, even if they are close by, they are not thinking about me at all. So, like a boomerang, my anger is usually going out from me, missing the target, and coming back at me.

Here's a Scripture you can check out that I've found to be very helpful in this matter: 2 Cor 10:5c NIV.

SLE

Originally Posted by SpiritLedEd

Nermeen,

I used to think that my resentments were emotional "bullets" I could fire at other people that would hurt them just as they've hurt me. Then I learned that whenever I'm entertaining vengeful thoughts toward another person, that person usually isn't nearby so he/she can feel the heat of my wrath, or, even if they are close by, they are not thinking about me at all. So, like a boomerang, my anger is usually going out from me, missing the target, and coming back at me.

Here's a Scripture you can check out that I've found to be very helpful in this matter: 2 Cor 10:5c NIV.

SLE

yup, agreed... i heard this message once in one of the preachings in our services. Thanks God for setting us free!!!

It takes determination to discipline the mind... besides our minds is our "Battle Ground".

Great job on this write up, This battle in our minds/thoughts is the only way that the evil one has to try to make us fall, cause when we live in the spirit and not the felsh satan only has this to make us fall. We need more write ups like this, about in dept issues that many of us forget about self-control, vanity, pride,etc.

God bless all who read and study the Word of God with an open heart and mind.

Originally Posted by SpiritLedEd

Nermeen,

I used to think that my resentments were emotional "bullets" I could fire at other people that would hurt them just as they've hurt me. Then I learned that whenever I'm entertaining vengeful thoughts toward another person, that person usually isn't nearby so he/she can feel the heat of my wrath, or, even if they are close by, they are not thinking about me at all. So, like a boomerang, my anger is usually going out from me, missing the target, and coming back at me.

Here's a Scripture you can check out that I've found to be very helpful in this matter: 2 Cor 10:5c NIV.

SLE

Brother Ed, I feel the same way sometimes. Its understandable to have some level of righteous anger, then once it crosses the line it only does damage to ourselves and possibly others whom we love. I completely understand how you feel and I find myself fighting this feeling, through prayer.

An inlaw accused my wife and me of saying some things we did not say, I told her that it was not true. Since the accusation involved our son, her husband, I talked to him. He said that we did not say what his wife accused us of. He talked to her and asked her to apologize, she did, but she said she didn't think she said what she said!

About 2 months later they came to stay at our home for about a week. She was very vicious and rude to my wife and I, she, again made accusations, which were lies. She even told our grandson to interupt a conversation my wife and I were having and she told him to call my wife by her first name, that is totally unacceptable. We raised our sons to respect adults and they never called their grandparents bny their first names.

BTW, she and my son are Christians!

I talked to my pastor, he said she has emotional and/or spiritual problems.

We forgave her, but she is no longer welcome in my home!

That's controlling my thought's if I made them in relation to the situation

Changing FOCUS is the issue.

Always involves what we focus our mind, eyes or heart on.

The expression "let's not go down that road" - is a great plugin and why Jesus told us "I am the Way" and His followers were known as People of the Way.

Justathought

You know Chad because of an event that took place into my family life stress has been high. It got to a point I couldn't get these things off my mind, I couldn't sleep, just couldn't focus because of the heaviness upon my heart. I couldn't even focus on being I guess what we would call spiritual. My thoughts overtaken me and I didn't know what to do except to say Jesus, the precious name of Jesus. All through the day when stress of thoughts came my way, I would continue saying, the precious name of Jesus. Over and Over again the precious name of Jesus, standing in the shadow of His wings. That night I sleeped completely through.

I do believe that God will meet us where we are at. He is not to high to be reach. This was my prayer, The precious name of Jesus.

God Bless, Trish