Paul was speaking of the spiritual battle that every Christian faces. He understood that the greatest conflicts of life are spiritual ones, and that the battleground is often the mind of the believer. Before a person comes to know Christ in a deeply personal way, the Bible says that he is a captive or slave to sin. In other words, our entire outlook and view of life is built upon attitudes and thought patterns that are contrary to God's plan for us. We build those patterns of thoughts over months and even years. When we come to know Christ, that doesn't mean that we no longer have to deal with wrong thought patterns. It simply means that we are no longer slaves to those patterns.

But we must learn to "take every thought to make it obedient to Christ." Let me explain. I grew up in a home where I experienced a lot of negativism. My mother was very critical. There's a fine line of difference between a critical spirit and an analytical spirit. A critical spirit analyzes each situation and condemns. But an analytical spirit is able to discern right from wrong and find an appropriate means of action to do the right thing. Over many years, I turned a God-given analytical spirit into a self-centered critical spirit. My first line of thought about anyone or any type of action was always a negative, critical one.

When Christ came into my life, He set me free from such a critical spirit. I was no longer a captive to such thinking, no longer a slave. However, I had not built a negative spirit within my heart in one moment. I had built such a pattern of thinking over a lifetime. Therefore, I needed to learn to tear down that stronghold in my life brick by brick. That simply meant that every day I needed to take every negative thought captive unto the obedience of Christ.

When I awaken every morning, my "natural" way of thinking is a negative one. I, therefore, take time alone with God to ask Him to capture every thought of mine. Through prayer, I bring every thought captive unto the obedience of Christ. I ask God to fill me with those thoughts that are pleasing to Him. The more regularly that I bring my thought patterns under Christ's rule, the quicker that stronghold is torn down in my life.

Once that stronghold is torn down, it doesn't mean that I am no longer tempted in that area. It simply means that Satan no longer has a foothold in that area of my life. I don't have to be a "naturally negative" person. I can be a supernaturally positive person. No matter what comes my way, I have been given everything I need to overwhelmingly conquer those patterns of thought that are so contrary to the character and ways of God.