Are you a thermometer or a thermostat? Are you reacting to your thoughts or creating them?

See, we live in a world of deception. Everyday we’re being bombarded by lies from the enemy, the world, and our own thoughts.  Those thoughts begin to take root in our hearts and can lead us to sin.

That’s why it’s so important to take our thoughts captive with the truth of God’s Word.

Today, I’m sharing a super practical way you can get control of your thinking and say goodbye to the rollercoaster of emotions.

Resources Mentioned:

The Mindset Reset: https://ashleyvarner.com/mindset
The Free Truth Journaling Guide: https://ashleyvarner.com/free

Highlights from the Episode:

Thermometer vs. thermostat are you reacting to your thoughts or are you creating them?

We live in a world of deception.

Everyday we’re being bombarded by lies, by the enemy yes, but also by the world and our own thoughts. Those thoughts begin to take root in our hearts and can lead us to sin.

Your truth vs God’s truth.

Moral relativism says that there is no objective truth and that everyone is free to define what’s right for themselves. I’ve even heard people say that if you think you’re right then you’re being self-righteous.

That’s just not how the world works. There is a Truth and His name is Jesus.

He said it Himself when He was on the earth. He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6)

So when I talk about taking thoughts captive in a world of deception, the only way we can do that is by lining up those thoughts with the only truth and that is found in God’s Word.

There is a right and wrong. There is a truth and lie. So if you have fallen prey to the idea of “living your truth” or thinking that “no one has the right to judge your decisions” or even as far as, “what’s right for me doesn’t necessarily mean it’s right for everyone.”

Start this journey with admitting that Jesus is the ultimate truth.

Now that we know the truth, we have to make it a daily habit.

It’s crucial that we make the effort to create a daily habit of discovering truth, especially in our thoughts.

In a world of deception, we are commanded in God’s Word to take every thought captive.

You might be asking me, “What does that look like in practical terms?” The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 10:5 “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive EVERY THOUGHT and MAKE it obedient to Christ.”

This verse gives us the key to how we can live a life of truth in a world that is anything but.

I believe that every action starts with a thought. And so every action can be stopped by taking that starting thought captive.

We are walking through a world that sets itself up aginst the knowledge of God, just like that verse says. We know that there is power in God’s truth and we want to take every thought captive, but how do we implement that desire in our daily lives?

Here are the steps to truth journaling:

Joyce Meyer said it well when she said, “Think about what you are thinking about.” So we start with writing down your thoughts. After you’ve written them down, then breakdown those thoughts one sentence at a time and line them up with the Word of God.

A verse I like to remember during this exercise is Philippians 4:8, “Finally, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things.”

Example: Say you and a friend disagreed on a particular decision regarding your kids. You can go home and keep repeating our conversation over and over in you mind and ultimately let it harm the friendship. Or you can take those thoughts captive with Truth Journaling.

First, write down what you’re thinking:

Example: Tiffany is mad at me because I’m choosing to raise my kids in a different than she is. Then break it down sentence by sentence and line it up with God’s Word.

Tiffany is mad at me because I’m choose to raise my kids differently than she is. She thinks she’s a better mother than I am, I don’t see how we can be friends if she feels that way.

The truth is, unless your friend said, “I’m mad at you because you’re not raising your kids the same way I’m raising mine.” then you don’t know if this is true. Just because someone disagrees with you doesn’t mean they’re angry with you.

Now, take it a step further…is this thought you’re having useful to you. Does it serve you? Does it help you be a better mother or friend? Is is pure or praiseworthy?

No.

The next step is to take that thought captive. Do you want to feel closer to your friend in this situation?

Then change your thinking, replace those thoughts with God’s thoughts.

You could instead think, “Tiffany’s kids are different from mine, so of course we’ll raise them differently. In the same way, God’s plan for Tiffany and her family is different than His plan for me and my family, so He could be calling her to do something different and that’s okay. We can still be friends even if we don’t always agree, it would be crazy to give up a friendship just because of that.

In the Mindset Reset, I give more examples of this truth journaling, but realize that you can make the decision to keep thinking thoughts that don’t help you or honor God, or you can choose to think thoughts that uplift you and others.