2 Corinthians 10:3-6

3 We are human, but we don't wage war as humans do. 4 We use God's mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. 5 We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. 6 And after you have become fully obedient, we will punish everyone who remains disobedient

(NLT)

3 -6The world is unprincipled. It's dog-eat-dog out there! The world doesn't fight fair. But we don't live or fight our battles that way-never have and never will. The tools of our trade aren't for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity.

(The Message)

3For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, 4for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. 5We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, 6and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.

(NASB)

What I really want to focus on is

"we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ"

Our youth pastor called it being "zoo minded"

Each thought has a cage where it belongs,

in captivity.

If we let the thoughts run wild they will overtake us and continue holding us back from freedom.

Freedom of God's love,
Freedom from the chains,
Freedom from the thoughts that overtake you.

Your willpower can't defeat the thoughts in your mind.

Instead put each one in a cage and give Jesus the key.

Every thought that is disobedient to Christ, lock it up in a cage and give Jesus the key.

You can't win a battle with willpower,
It's who you have on your team.

We have Jesus Christ on our team,
He alone defeated the sin,
He can defeat the sin again,
All the thoughts that are disobdient to Christ,
Give them to Jesus,
Place them in cages where they belong.

If you continue to let the thoughts run wild they will overtake you,
You can become the sin that you fear,
The thoughts you fear.

Instead of hiding from Jesus because of your thoughts of fear and unworthiness,
Put them in the cages where they belong.

Taking every thought captive is simply putting the thoughts in a cage,
The wild animals at the zoo are in a cage so they can't hurt you,
Do the same with your thoughts,
Give Jesus the key and have Him hide it from you.

Take every thought captive to the obdience and truth of Jesus Christ,

Know that in Christ you stand forgiven,
Sin stands defeated,
Death has been defeated,
Take every thought captive,
Put every thought in a cage,
Jesus already won the battle,
He desires to set you free,
He desires to forgive you,
All He asks is that you come to Him on His terms,
and those terms are that you recieve His free gift of grace,
He longs to make your heart pure again,
He wants to help you defeat your battles,
He knows your not strong enough on your own,
He loves you and doesn't want to see you keep fighting what you can't win,
He found you in your sin and shame,
Your pain and brokenness,
and now He's ready to heal and set you free from it,
Take every past hurt,
and put it in the cage,
Every past mistake,
Put in the cage where it belongs,
Look up to the heavens,
and see your Father smiling down on you in love,
He desires the very best for you,
But you have to let Him come in,
You have to be willing to take the thoughts captive,
Yes they will come back,
But you keep putting them in a cage,
Asking for God's strength and He won't fail you,
Take every thought captive to the obdience of Christ,
Put them under the authority of Christ,
Let God fight your battles,
and you'll win every time.

It's not about willpower,
It's who you have on your team.