Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.
Listening to the message this morning, this was the scripture that impacted me the most. I hear it all the time; it's so easy for me to let the usual just glide by. But today it stuck. Because today I realized (not that I hadn't realized it before, but I realized it again, in a way that I hadn't felt before) that not obeying this scripture has been the bane of my existence.
Decisions begin with thought. If something enters your mind, if you conceive it, and if you believe it, it will eventually lead to action. But what if what you allow to enter your mind is a lie? What if what you conceive, what you imagine, is a lie? What if what you believe is a lie? Then you make decisions and take action based on lies.
Isn't that what sin is? It's making a lie-based decision.
But back to thoughts. I have a pretty vivid imagination. I'm creative. I've used my creativity to benefit myself and others in a positive way. But there is a downside to imagination. A tendency to invent and dwell on thoughts that are destructive and fearful. If it's about tearing myself or others down, if it's based in fear, then it's not of God. And that is what I must constantly reject.
2 comments:
I certainly hope that you expand this thought, and create another lesson for the Youth Sunday School curriculum!!! This is a message that needs reaffirming in their minds and hearts. (Well, not just theirs, but I see a lot of young people fighting this battle.)
Hmmm. Perhaps. I'm doing more writing than I'd care to do at this juncture . . . why not throw in a Sunday School lesson while the writerly juices are flowing? lol.
Actually, what I wrote for WAP weren't lessons but fiction. Like the youth equivalent of "take home papers." But maybe I'll branch out a little more . . . we'll see.
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