2 Corinthians 10. For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to obey Christ (10:3-5).

Take every thought captive. Why? Because if you allow your thought life to run rampant, you will find that the war in your mind is a tough battle indeed! Often, we hear analogies and examples of military warfare and tactics offered as a way of thinking about this passage. But for some reason today – maybe because it’s spring and everyone is out working on their yards – I am thinking about this passage and the metaphor of a garden.

I visited a friend’s home recently for brunch and she had the most amazing garden. It was just gorgeous, full of flowers and vines and fruit trees and all kinds of things blooming. It was tidy and clean. The grass was perfect, not a weed in sight. The mulch was perfect too. Now I happen to know that her husband spends hours and hours working on their yard. I used to drive by their house multiple times a day, and he was often out working on the yard, pulling weeds. That’s probably why it looks so lovely – he’s invested a great deal of time and effort in it!

I am kind of the opposite type of gardener. I neglect things, they die or get overrun by weeds, and then I have to spend two or three days digging everything up and trying to make it all tidy again. And oh look, dollar weed has taken over the back fence line! My yard was always a mess if you looked closely. We mowed the green stuff, but it was only half grass. (It’s part of why we recently moved to a condo, no more yard work!)

Think of your mind like a garden. Wouldn’t you like your mind to be a calm, tidy place where flowers are blooming and it’s peaceful? How do you think you get there? It starts with intentionality and a plan. To grow beautiful things in the garden of your mind, you must plant them. And care for them, water, them, fertilize them, and generally be intentional about them so they flourish. And the taking every thought captive part – that is called pulling weeds, friends! Little bitty weeds are super easy to pull, they don’t have deep roots. But goodness, if you let the weeds go you are going to be digging and digging for a long time to get all the roots out and kill that weed off. The longer you let dollar weed go, the more it will take over your garden and ruin everything. So, take those thoughts captive every single time you think them, do not let them grow. You are the gardener of your mind.

The Apostle Paul addresses one particular type of weed later in this chapter, the weeds of comparison. When they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves to one another, they are without understanding [not wise] (10:12). When we look at others and compare ourselves to them, we allow weeds to grow in our mind – weeds of envy, of frustration, of jealousy, and of poor self-worth. Comparing ourselves to others is a no-win game. We only end up frustrated with them and with ourselves. When you have a comparison weed pop up in your mind – pull it out, take it captive. Do not allow it to take root. Work at making an intentional shift toward applauding the other person for what they have achieved in life – shower some praise and joy on their garden instead.

Does the tending your garden analogy generate any new insight about the battle that rages in our minds and how we need to take thoughts captive? How is your garden doing? What would you like do differently? Ho can you tend to your mental garden this week?