Learning How to Think About Your Thoughts

Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 10:5, “We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

I’m going to be honest with you. I’ve known that verse for a long time.

But.

I didn’t know how to apply that verse to my life until just recently.

Part of the way my anxiety presents itself is usually very specific. Meaning, I don’t experience general anxiety; I experience really intense anxiety over a specific subject.

For example, there was a season I was anxious about getting sick. Another season I was anxious about Emily dying in a car crash.

One of the reason I’ve experienced some breakthrough in regards to anxiety is because of learning how to think about my thoughts.

Two things have helped:

• I literally take a snapshot of my thought, hold it in place, and consider why it’s there.

Typically, we think about something and it floats on by, without thinking much about it. But the thought has a powerful affect on our emotions and feelings.

Instead, I’ve learned to hold that thought, take a snapshot of it, and ask, why are you there?

• I observe my thoughts unattached to my feelings and say, “oh, that’s interesting.”

One of my friends taught me this one. So often, our thought life affects our entire being. Instead, I’ve grown in my ability to observe a thought without attaching it to my feelings.

Oh, that’s interesting. It’s like observing a balloon floating by or a plane passing over.

I’m learning to think about my thoughts. As I do, both from an ability to hold it in place as well as observe it from a non-emotional place, I’m able to take captive those thoughts and make them obedient to Christ.

Ultimately, God is the one who will deal with them and help me process what’s true and what’s not.

How are you learning to deal with your thought life these days?