MIND
Passive Thought Will Bury You
20 mins ago
Joel Van Rossum
What You Don’t Challenge Will Eventually Control You
Most men won’t crash because of one catastrophic decision.
They’ll crash because they let one unchallenged thought run unchecked for too long.
Thoughts become patterns.
Patterns become beliefs.
And beliefs, even false ones, shape everything — how you lead, how you show up, how you see God, how you treat people, and how you carry yourself in private.
The real danger isn’t just negative thinking.
It’s passive thinking — when your mind drifts into autopilot and you stop noticing what you’re agreeing with.
“As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.”
— Proverbs 23:7
Your mind was never meant to coast.
It was meant to be set — directed, guarded, shaped.
But that takes intention. It takes training. And it takes the humility to admit: I’ve let things grow here that God never planted.
The Cost of Agreement
Most of us don’t realize how many thoughts we’ve agreed with simply because they’re familiar.
They sound like our voice, so we let them stay.
But what if that voice telling you “you’re too far gone,” or “you’ll never change,” or “this is just who you are” — isn’t your voice at all?
“You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you.”
— Deuteronomy 6:14
In today’s world, “gods” look like culture’s definitions, digital echo chambers, and the internal scripts you replay from your past.
And while you may never bow to an idol, many men unknowingly worship false thoughts — and it buries their freedom, their identity, and their impact.
You’re not defined by what you’ve survived — you’re defined by what you’ve believed.
And if you don’t challenge the lie, you’ll live like it’s true.
C.S. Lewis once said:
“The most dangerous ideas in a society are not the ones being argued, but the ones that are assumed.”
That includes the ones in your mind.
The ones you never question.
The ones that lead you further into numbness, isolation, or compromise.
There is no such thing as a neutral thought life.
You are either actively renewing your mind, or being slowly shaped by whatever voice is loudest — media, fear, pain, distraction, shame.
A Mind That’s Set — Not Swallowed
The Bible doesn’t say to manage your thoughts. It says to take them captive — aggressively, intentionally, and consistently.
“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.”
— 2 Corinthians 10:5
It doesn’t say try harder or think happy thoughts.
It says wage war — because your thoughts are not small. They’re formational.
They’re shaping how you see God.
How you respond to pain.
Whether you lead in truth or retreat in fear.
And if your mind stays passive, your life will too.
Reflection Questions:
What lie have I been agreeing with just because it sounds familiar?
Am I treating my thought life like a battleground or a background process?
What “mental agreement” do I need to renounce before it becomes identity?
🔥 Scripture-Based Action Step:
Spend the next 3 mornings meditating on Philippians 4:8.
Each morning, handwrite the verse:
“Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right… think about such things.”
Then do this:
Draw a line down the middle of a journal page.
On the left: write one recurring thought you’ve been battling.
On the right: write one truth from Scripture that directly contradicts it.
Keep that list with you all week.
Each time the lie shows up, don’t just resist it — replace it.
Over time, what used to be automatic becomes discerned.
What used to rule you becomes redirected.
Because you’ve trained your mind to submit to truth — not emotion.
“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.”
— Isaiah 26:3
Peace isn’t a product of performance.
It’s the fruit of a set mind.
One that refuses to drift, decay, or die beneath the weight of passive thinking.
You were not made to live on autopilot.
You were made to take ground — and that begins with taking your thoughts back.