Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5 (NKJV)
Studying leadership is a great passion of mine. I’ve read countless books on leadership from people who have the ability to lead their organizations with excellence, but also to teach leadership principles in a powerful way.
While there are many differences in their style, direction and purpose, there’s one similarity in each of these successful leaders—a great attitude. Knowledge and skill are certainly important, but attitude is one of the greatest determining factors for success.
We all know people who are talented and knowledgeable, but stuck in dead-end careers. We can also think of people who seem to rise to the top even though they have less credentials or experience than others. What’s the difference? Often it’s just attitude! The good news is that you are the master of your own attitude. You can direct your thoughts to work for or against you, but you may need to take a few of those thoughts captive before they do damage.
Taking thoughts captive isn’t an automatic process when you become a Christian. When police officers take someone into custody, there’s often a fight involved. Taking something captive involves effort, and the same is true of habitual thoughts.
There are three steps involved when it comes to taking your thoughts captive: choose, refuse and expect. We’ll be covering these in greater depth over the next three days, but for today, meditate on the fact that you have been given the power to win the war against even the most well-established negative attitude (See 2 Corinthians 10:3–4)
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