The Garden Of Thoughts

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.

We Control What We Plant

Last summer, as a surprise, my dad planted 75 to 100 sunflowers in our backyard! I grinned every time I walked outside and saw how they would grow so tall and full and bright as they looked toward the sun. My dad’s garden was such a powerful reflection of our minds. My dad purposefully planted sunflower seeds. He watered them and gave them sunlight. He didn’t plant apple seeds expecting sunflowers, but he planted what he intended to grow. In the same way, we have complete control over what we plant in our thoughts.

I am the gardener of my mind. I determine what gets planted, what gets watered, and what—like weeds—gets taken out. In 2 Corinthians 10:5, the Holy Spirit speaks through Paul to let us know that we must take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ, but I cannot take captive a thought that is disobedient if I do not know what is obedient. I cannot take a lie captive and replace it with the truth if I do not know what the truth is.

Philippians 4:8 gives us a list of flowers we should plant in our minds: the flowers of loveliness, purity, nobility, righteousness, truth, admirability, praiseworthiness, and excellence. These are the flowers that God has told us to plant in our gardens because these are the thoughts that are from Him.

Uproot the Weeds

Sometimes weeds that are not from this list of flowers grow in our minds and intertwine with the beauty of the flowers, producing hindrances and crippling limitations when we allow them to take root. Our thoughts determine what we talk about, how we act, and eventually who we become. If we let the weeds of insecurity take root, then insecurity will grow. If we let the weeds of fear and doubt and worry slither in, and we do not uproot them, then our decisions will stem from bad roots.

Don’t let intruders crash the joyous party of life and holiness that your mind was designed to be. Our minds were handmade with delight to be a field of wildflowers that reflect the freedom that we have in Christ and His peace that He has given us. There is power in daily spending time in God’s Word because no matter how nasty and overwhelming the weeds that are trying to take over your garden may seem, you can boldly know that the same power that raised Jesus from the grave lives inside of you, and therefore, you have been given the role of planting seeds of His Word that will stand forever (Isaiah 40:8). With God’s Word and His strength, you can defeat and pull those weeds and replace them with the truth that sets us free (John 8:32). You have complete control of what gets planted and what gets pulled.

Be Intentional

Tending the garden of our minds means being intentional about filtering our thoughts with God’s truth. It means being purposeful and attentive to what movies and shows we are watching, the music we are listening to, and the people we are being influenced by. Weeds don’t come in all at once, and flowers don’t grow in a heartbeat. It is little by little. The more we settle and compromise in these and other areas, the more weeds will grow. But on the other hand, the more we spend time daily reading God’s Word, talking with godly friends, listening to wholesome music, and watching pure movies, the more our flowers will bloom.

One practical way that I replace the weeds of my mind with God’s truth is by finding three verses that combat the lie that I have let come into my garden. For example, if I am fighting the weed of fear, I will go and find three Scriptures that specifically speak on fear—this is the best weed killer. I speak these truths out loud and pray over them and write them down and believe them! I can speak His Word out loud all day long, but if I do not believe what I am speaking, then I am not walking in the power that it could have in my life.

Sunflowers are heliotropic, which means that they look more and more towards the sun as they grow until they are fully facing the sun. In the same way, the more we grow in our relationship with Jesus, the more we look to Him and radiate His glory. When we decide to step into the gardening role that we have been given with authority through Jesus, and we remain true to our list of flowers, beauty will bloom within us. Even more, it will be an overflow that inspires gardeners all around us to know that they are also bought at a high price by God, and with their thoughts, they, too, have been called to honor Him who lives inside of them. For it is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives in us (Galatians 2:20). All pesky weeds must flee in the name of Jesus.