When I lived in Wilmington, North Carolina, I always had to prepare myself for hurricane season. From June to November, it was likely that we would encounter at least a couple of hurricanes. I remember one particular hurricane season in which Hurricane Joaquin headed our way, and we braced ourselves for the torrential rain that was soon to arrive. Before the rain began, my friends and I decided to head to the beach and watch how the approaching storm was affecting the ocean. While being careful not to go too far, I stood on the shore and listened to the roar of the sea. I watched as the waves rose and crashed into one another with incredible force. There was no way to control the chaos. The waves were wild, turbulent, and unpredictable. 

Our thoughts and feelings often seem like the raging sea. Thoughts can rush around our head. Emotions can surge up inside of us and spill over. When our thoughts and emotions run rampant, we might feel as if there is no way to control them. And so we often let our thoughts and feelings take over, often resulting in reactions that may hurt others or even ourselves. But there is a way we can discipline our mind and emotions. Scripture teaches us that when we bring our thoughts and feelings under Christ’s Lordship, we are able to better control our thoughts and emotions and respond to them in a way that honors Christ. 

Disciplining Our Thoughts 

In 2 Corinthians 10:4–5, Paul writes, “We demolish arguments and every proud thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ.” 

At the time of Paul’s writing, many of the Corinthians were listening to teachers who proclaimed messages antithetical to the gospel; so Paul exhorted them to reject all arguments contrary to the truth of God’s Word. Paul emphasized the importance of “[taking] every thought captive”—particularly those thoughts which go against Scripture. And although he is speaking to a specific situation in these verses, the message is just as relevant to us today: We do have control over what we allow into our mind. 

It’s easy to think that we can’t control our thoughts, but this isn’t entirely true. We can control what we listen to and what influences our thinking. Even if we can’t always control the thoughts that come into our minds, we can control our actions and reactions. Rather than dwelling on thoughts that cause us fear, stimulate our doubt, or encourage our disobedience, we can take our thoughts captive by submitting them to Christ’s Lordship—keeping them from dominating our minds. As followers of Christ, everything that we do should honor Him—and so 2 Corinthians 10:5 reminds us that we take our thoughts captive in order to obey Christ. 

We do this by considering whether our thoughts are pleasing to Christ and leading us to be obedient to Him. One helpful verse that shows us what we should dwell on is Philippians 4:8. In this verse, Paul writes, “...whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy—dwell on these things.” 

So as we think about what is in our minds, we can ask ourselves questions like:

• Is this thought a lie? Does it go against what God’s Word says?

• Is this thought loving or unloving toward someone else?

• Is this thought something that Jesus would be pleased with? Would He think this thought?

• If I said this thought aloud, would it benefit those who would hear? 

If we ask ourselves these types of questions and find that our thoughts aren’t pleasing to Christ, we can then aim to redirect our thoughts. This can involve asking God to help us think about what is true in His Word or asking Him to block what we don’t want in our minds. Trying to get rid of unwanted thoughts can be difficult, but taking our thoughts captive isn’t something that we can do in our own power. We rely on the power of the Spirit to discipline our thoughts so that what we think brings glory to Christ. So whenever you feel as if your mind is too out of control to tame, ask the Spirit to help you take your thoughts captive. And ask the Spirit to help you dwell on the right things (Philippians 4:8).

Disciplining Our Feelings 

While Scripture doesn’t tell us to take our feelings captive, disciplining our feelings looks similar to disciplining our thoughts. Just as we are to take our thoughts captive and place them under Christ’s Lordship, so are we to do the same with our emotions. Our thoughts and feelings are often connected. For example, if we are experiencing a rush of anger toward someone, we may be tempted to recall all their past wrongs to add fuel to the fire. When we are sad, we may be dwelling too deeply on hard circumstances. This is why it’s important to discipline our thoughts—so that we are then able to discipline the emotions that accompany those thoughts. And as we discipline both our thoughts and our feelings, we will be enabled to act in ways that please God. 

Of course, not all feelings are “bad.” Often, what we feel is valid and a true response to a certain situation. But that doesn’t mean that we should allow our feelings to take over. Ultimately, it is the gospel that should guide us, not our feelings. Even true and good feelings can lead us astray when we don’t let the truth of the gospel influence how we react. So when sadness starts to well up, discipline your feelings by reminding yourself of the hope you have in Christ. When anger starts bubbling up inside of you, take what you’re feeling captive by remembering the forgiveness God has given you that you are called to extend to others. 

Just as with our thoughts, it may be helpful to stop and ask ourselves questions about what we’re feeling. We can ask questions such as:

• What is making me feel this way? How can I choose to respond to this situation differently?

• What is true about God in this situation? What does His Word say about what I’m feeling?

• How would Jesus react to this situation that is making me feel this way?

As we assess our feelings, we are also called to go to God in prayer. When emotions take over, we can ask Him to help us cling to what is true and to not let our feelings cause us to stumble or sin.

As long as we live on this side of eternity, our thoughts and feelings will be wild, turbulent, and unpredictable at times. But as we keep our minds focused on the gospel and ask Jesus to help us in what we think and feel, we no longer have to let our thoughts and feelings take over. 

Additional Resources for Relying on God: