Mental State

2 Corinthians 10:5 is that famous verse-- taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.  Sure, this means a sudden sinful thought hits your mind and you pray.  But I'm dealing with something a little different-- not a wild thought, but a mindset... a mental state.

Having grown up in dysfunction (as you have too), I have fallen into mindsets.  Maybe it's a victim mindset as we discussed the other week.  Maybe is a vindictive mindset.  These mindset's are deeply rooted, and I have trouble seeing them.  They're often blindspots for me.  So it's a little more difficult to take the thought captive when I don't even realize I'm thinking vindictively. 

So when someone points out that I'm a miserable vindictive SOB, I can rejoice-- it is a GOOD thing to know.  Something to work on.  A thought process that definitely needs to be help captive to the obedience of Christ.

One of the sad things about the modern evangelical zeal, is that you come to Jesus, you end your struggling.  But Paul discusses in same book, chapter 5, that we in this present tabernacle do groan, being burdened.  To choose to become a Disciple of Jesus is to choose to work.  And though it's incredibly hard sometimes to find out that I have failed and been failing in a certain area of my life, it's GOOD to see it so that I can WORK on taking those thoughts captive.

Also in chapter 5: Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.  If I'm the same person I was before I came to be in Christ, then this verse is a lie.  Or I am.  Or you are.  If you are in Christ, your old things are passed away, and all things are become new.