Pinpointing the thoughts that hurt us: A book review

In her book, "Every Thought Captive," Jerusha Clark takes the well-known verse that admonishes us to "take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ" and helps readers understand what that actually looks like.

Throughout the book, Clark pinpoints some of the most common unhealthy and detrimental thoughts that plague a woman's mind, like those that tell her she's not good enough or thin enough, that it was all her fault and she's always messing up, that she doesn't have enough time or that everything's going to come crashing down any moment.

Often, we think these kinds of thoughts without even being aware of it, but that's where this book comes in handy: By going through each section and the list of lies that Clark identifies, readers can begin to recognize the lies that are most recurrent in their own lives.

For me, that came to life as I read through the section "One More Thing," which looks at our desires for "more" and our temptation to think that this "one more thing" will make us happy--if only temporarily. She gave an example of her search for new black shoes, and how she went shopping everywhere to try to track them down. "I never thought the black shoes would bring me ultimate satisfaction," she writes, "but I certainly thought they would bring me relief from gnawing desire....Sometimes I realize that I've wanted something more than I've wanted God."

This is an episode I know all too well--whether it's searching for the perfect pair of curtains or, ahem, new artwork for my kitchen wall. In doing so, we are putting our satisfaction in things, rather than in God and being satisfied by what he has already given us. She reminds readers that God gives bountifully and without ceasing, meeting all our needs. And it's those kinds of biblical truths I can keep in mind when the lie of "one more thing" pops up--undoubtedly, again and again.