We are living sacrifices. Daily we give up our time, our possessions, our negative expressions, and our self-will for the good of others. Though our souls are screaming “I don’t want to!” or “I just want to tell him exactly what I think,” we choose the alternate route of walking in love, which is like throwing ourselves onto a hard concrete altar, with flames licking up all around us; it hurts. It’s uncomfortable. But we are presenting ourselves as a “living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God,” and it’s a form of worship (Romans 12:1).

Putting the thoughts and will of God above ourselves and our own desires is to worship the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. We are choosing to turn our backs on the ruler of this world – Satan. After the fall of man, our thinking changed. Sin had entered and instead of our thoughts reflecting that of our Creator, they began to reflect the thoughts and desires of the enemy. Pride and selfishness began to rule instead of Love, and our perspectives became skewed. We needed a Savior who could restore our minds and return to us the mind of Christ. We needed Jesus, and thank God He came!

After we’re born again, (having acknowledged Jesus as our Lord and Savior, repented, and committed our lives to Him), we are given the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16). Even though we now possess the mind of Christ, we’ve been living with the wrong mindset for so long, that we may not exhibit the mind of Christ automatically. Romans 12:2 says we actually have to renew our minds. We actually have to displace the wrong thinking with correct thinking. This involves casting down any thought that does not look like God, and bringing our thoughts into obedience to Him (2 Corinthians 10:5).  Let’s take homosexual thoughts as an example. If we read Romans 1:26-28, we see that homosexuality is a sin and has dire consequences. If you’ve struggled with homosexual thoughts, the first step is to recognize those thoughts as coming from a place of darkness, from the god of this world, the god of chaos and destruction, and not from our Creator God, the God of Light and Life. The second step is to renew our minds – to change our thinking by casting these thoughts down and saying, “NO! This is not what God says. It does NOT align with His way of thinking and I choose to think thoughts that are pleasing to Him.” It’s helpful to speak the Word of God out loud as well, because when we open our mouth and begin speaking, it will cut into those thoughts and stop them. Contrary to popular belief, we are not the thoughts that we think. We do however, conform to the thoughts that we choose to believe. This is why it is so important we choose thoughts that align with Christ, and not Satan. It’s a matter of Life and death.

By testing our thoughts, we can determine if it’s a God thought, or something whispered into our ears by the enemy. Simply put, if it goes against the character and nature of God, it’s not Him. Romans 12:2 says,

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

In order to discern what is right thinking and what is wrong thinking, we have to put our thinking to the test. When we test diamonds, or even gold, we are examining them to determine the quality and the authenticity of the items. When we test our thoughts, we are examining them as well. Am I believing God? Am I responding out of a place of anger? Does my attitude reflect Christ?

In order for someone to know whether a lump of gold is real, or if it’s fool’s gold (looks real, but it’s really fake), it’s important they spend time studying the characteristics of the real thing. The more time they spend studying the characteristics, nature, and qualities of the real, the quicker they’ll be able to discern or recognize a fake. Identifying what is invaluable and what is worthless becomes easier. It’s the same with our thoughts. The more time we spend with God, studying His character and nature in our Bibles, the quicker we’ll be able to pick up on thoughts and characteristics we’re exhibiting that are not from Him. It becomes easier to recognize which thoughts are beneficial, life-giving, and worth thinking on, and which ones we need to dispose of.

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

Philippians 4:8

I’m sure you’ve all probably heard of the Scientific Method. This is a step-by-step approach scientists use when performing experiments, and attempting to understand something new. The Scientific Method begins with observation. From there they begin asking questions and gathering information. A hypothesis is formed, and then the testing begins. Let’s apply the Scientific Method to taking our thoughts captive for all the science buffs out there. We begin by taking note of what we are thinking about (observation). Then we start asking questions – “Does my thinking follow the pattern of this world, or does it line up to the character and nature of God? If I were to carry out what I’m thinking about, would it be pleasing to God?” From there we form our hypothesis – “This is probably wrong thinking, and I may need to change my perspective,” or, “I’m right and she’s the one that’s way off.”  Now comes the test. Now we begin to search the Scriptures to find whether our thinking is right on, or way off. We begin to pray and ask God to reveal to us any areas we’ve had wrong thinking in, and to replace any lies with Truth. We may find our perspective, or attitude is right on, but we might also find that we may need to make a few adjustments. Sometimes we find that our thinking was way off base, but that doesn’t mean we beat ourselves up for not knowing, or believing a lie. We simply make the necessary adjustments and carry on.

As always, in the Scientific world, new information may appear, and we may have to make even more adjustments to our thinking down the road, even if we think we’ve got it all together. Whatever new information is presented MUST line up to the Word of God, so it’s important we take each new piece of information and run it through the test. Accepting a new piece of information without first testing it can ultimately bring destruction.

How we view things is important. Our thoughts are more than just our opinions, with spiritual light and darkness being the influencers. Darkness will sometimes come in the cover of light in order to deceive, just as fool’s gold takes on the appearance of the real thing. People will always have opinions, or thoughts on a subject, and while opinions aren’t necessarily bad, our opinions can lead us down the wrong path. Are our thoughts and opinions wrapped in Truth, or have they wrapped themselves in the appearance of truth, but deep down are really belief systems that were sent to derail us and take us out for all eternity?

You must run the test and decide.