Have you ever caught yourself thinking about things that you wish you could change in your life? We all have days when we feel particularly discontent about various things in our lives, which can lead to thoughts that breed negative thought patterns.

Although these thoughts may seem insignificant, these thought patterns can lead to bigger issues and eventually turn into discouragement, discontentment, and even depression. As true and real as these thoughts might seem, we must realize that these thoughts are a strategic tactic of the enemy to get us distracted from our purpose and steal the peace and joy from our lives.

Don’t believe me?! Just stop for a moment and think about the thoughts that play in your head when you think about your career, family life, etc. If your mind immediately goes to a negative thoughts of discontentment, then it’s time to start thinking about your thinking! What are the feelings that come as a result of those thoughts? Now imagine if you never had another thought like that again! Do you realize how much joy, peace, and freedom you would have knowing that you would never have to waste another moment worrying about that thing that used to plague you.

Hopefully you can see how thoughts can be a tool that Satan uses to steal from us. He is out to steal our joy, peace, and time by placing our attention on negative thoughts. The Bible tells us that, “Satan comes to steal, kill and destroy, but Jesus came so we could have life and life more abundantly.”(John 10:10) This is actually good news, because as children of God, when we realize that we are being stolen from, we don’t have to put up with it anymore. After all, why would we want let Satan steal from us when Jesus came to give us a life of abundance?

So how do we stop Satan from stealing another moment with these thoughts that so easily steal our peace and joy? The Bible makes it very clear.

God knew we would encounter lies of all sorts while we are here on this earth. In fact, our enemy is called the ‘Father of Lies’(John 8:44), and therefore, all he can do is lie to us. So the Lord told us exactly what to do when we find ourselves being lied to. In 2 Corinthians 10:5, God instructs us to, “Demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God and take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

In practical terms, this verse instructs us to take the thoughts that don’t line up with what God says about us captive. The word captive means to ‘take prisoner”. So we must treat these types of thoughts as prisoners and not allowing them to run free in our minds. The second part of this verse says to make our thoughts obedient to Christ (which is the Word of God- John 1:14). This means to replace the lies from the enemy with the truth of the Word and what it says about us.

There is a reason that God instructs us to guard our heart and our mind, for out of it flows the issues of life (Proverbs 4:23). If we don’t pay attention to what we are thinking about and filling it with, our thoughts will steal our peace, joy, and strength, which will eventually affect every other area of our life.

I encourage you to free yourself today! Make it a priority to take those thoughts that are meant to distract and steal true life away, and replace them with the truths of God’s Word that will set you free! It won’t be long before you realize how much time, peace, and joy you have gained once you choose to focus on the abundant life Jesus has provided for you. (Philippians 4:8)

If you are looking for guidance on finding your true identity in Christ, and learning more about who you are in Him; I would encourage you to join our Stronger Together Program starting May 11. This program focuses on change that comes from the inside out, and finding our confidence in Christ, as well as our best health so we can feel our best on the outside as well! We hope you will join us! Xo Katie