Toxic Thoughts

I've never been a prisoner of war.  OK I've never been in war or prison, but I have watched all of the "Rambo movies." I've also seen the Chuck Norris classics, "Missing In Action." Ok the "Missing In Action" movies are not classics, but don't tell Chuck Norris that.  Now the thing that both of these franchises have in common is that the hero spends some time as a prisoner of war. It should be mentioned that "Missing In Action" ripped off an early script (from James Cameron writer of Rambo II) of "Rambo: First Blood Part 2." Hence the exact same plot. I digress.

Now you have to be pretty BA (Bad Attitude) to capture Rambo and Chuck Norris. SPOILER ALERT: Considering that Rambo and Chuck Norris escape and then both single handily destroy most of the Vietnamese army, it's pretty impressive that they were captured.

Toxic thoughts attack like an invading army. Whether it's negative thoughts about someone else or about ourselves, toxic thoughts bombard our minds.

The language that the Bible uses to describe toxic thoughts is violent. "The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." - 2 Corinthians 10:4-5.  Did you catch that? We take captive every thought. Our weapon of choice is the Bible.

In this scenario thoughts are more like Rambo or Chuck Norris. You've got to be pretty BA to capture them. The problem is even when you capture them they still keep coming. Oh and they don't stop...Rambo has made 4 movies and Chuck made 3 "Missing In Action" films. 

Practically this is what capturing thoughts should look like...

• A lustful thought attacks the mind - beat it up by quoting "If you eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away." - Matthew 18:9. Now this verse isn't being literal, but it is painting a picture of how serious we should be against sins of the eye.
• And for everything else - "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." Philippians 4:8 I use this verse often. When negative thoughts attack my mind I say this out loud. I take thoughts captive by making them obey this verse.
• Oh and Philippians 4:4-7 is amazing for this. This verse promises that if we pray with thanksgiving Jesus will guard our hearts and our minds.

Fighting toxic words isn't easy. War never is. I don't know about you but I don't want to lose this war. I want to fight back with a weapon of mass destruction. Thank God for the Bible. Not even a Rambo or Chuck Norris sized toxic thought can withstand it.

My pastor did an amazing job talking about this subject on Sunday. It was like a steak from Ruth's Chris...it's so good it doesn't need any sauce. You can listen to it here.