SUMMARY: Taming Your Private Thoughts

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Book Summary: Taming Your Private Thoughts
by Jay Dennis & Marilyn Jeffcoat



Taming Your Private Thoughts: You can stop sin where it starts!

By Jay Dennis and Marilyn Jeffcoat

Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI, Copyright 2002

Book Summary by Jim Dernocoeur

This relevant, timely book was written to help us understand that we have the God-guided power to stop sin where it begins - in our minds. It especially deals with our deepest, most secret thoughts, which when left uncontrolled can lead to disaster for ourselves and those around us.

This downward spiral can start with the simplest glance at something that seems tame, yet we know it's wrong. Left unchecked, the steps continue until we're in sin’s total bondage and feel like we can’t get out.

But, the Bible clearly shows us a way out and up, back to spiritual healing and happiness. The writers of this book have identified the STOP method to make this happen, and they elaborate on each step to put your mind on track to be more like Christ.

This is an on-going battle vs. Satan, but it is one we can win and even be better for having fought it. The application of this STOP method is much needed in our media-bombarded world. The book is filled with examples to show the method works.


PART ONE - Charting Sin’s Beginning

Chapter 1: It Began Just as a Thought
Everything begins with a thought. Actions flow out of thought. Within our thoughts resides the capacity for good or evil. Proverbs states: For as he thinks within himself, so he is.

The seed of sin is planted in our thoughts and when allowed to run unchecked will lead to sinful actions. Satan makes sin attractive, but the results are disastrous. Bad choices are wrongly backed by the thought, “I can handle it.” The first step in sin progression is temptation. Unless sin progression is stopped, it will continue.

Chapter 2: Flirting with “Desire”
Our minds are gatekeepers to what we eventually do. We absorb harmful but “acceptable” entertainment. Fantasies creep into our minds. Once started, flirting leads to trouble. Innocent flirting must be avoided. Christians have a built-in system to stop such thoughts. We now openly discuss what was formerly taboo. Satan wants evil thoughts to grow in your mind and crowd out good thoughts. Unless progression is stopped, we begin to flirt with desire.

Chapter 3: Behind Close Door #1: Lust
The advertising business, like Satan, has many ways of enticing us. P. T. Barnum said, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” Our thoughts, unless caged, can become a runaway animal. Paul said, We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. Satan provides alluring bait which creates lust. He perfected temptation long before advertising did—Eve, David, Solomon succumbed. When lust gets pregnant, it has a baby called sin. Satan makes alluring deals, which turns evil to lust which is step 3 in sin progression.

Chapter 4: Peeking Behind the Skeleton Door—Sin
After desire is conceived, it gives birth to sin, which when full grown gives birth to death. (James 1:15) Once conceived, sin is carried full-term to a birth of disillusionment. This chapter explains how sin overtook Judas and how the result was his death. We all have dumpsters full of life’s garbage; we must not go dumpster diving. Satan wants us to keep digging up old, bad skeletons. So we develop skelaphobia – the fear of being found out. Temptation leads to desire which becomes lust and then – step 4 – sin. But it can be stopped.

PART TWO - Examining Sin’s Consequences

Chapter 5: Death of Pure Thoughts
There are many ways that we first lose our innocence. Many children lose theirs witnessing the horrors of war. As in war, we should be ready for mind attacks because we can lose control in an instant. Certain things we just don’t want to lose, and then Satan doesn’t want us to get over our losses. We must not let a sinful thought enter our mind in round 1. We should TKO – do a thought knock out. Sinful thoughts put nails in our mind’s coffins and seals out pure thoughts. This is step 5 in sin’s progression.

Chapter 6: The Exhilaration of Deceptive Thoughts
"Don’t do’s" always seem appealing. We must decide whether to do right or wrong. It’s easy to get hooked on a feeling that leads to disaster. God’s rules promote happiness and are not restrictions. But Satan counters these laws with his own lies. We can have mind mirages for things that look good, but aren’t. Satan intimidates us and encourages us to do dangerous acts.

Chapter 7: I Never Thought It Would Lead to This
What looks like a small, insignificant step can lead us far away from God. If we are off God’s law by an inch, we are committing a sin, which can have serious consequences. Satan blinds us to the consequences and we fail to see the trap he sets for us. We walk through life surrounded by moral, ethical, and emotional landmines. We should rely on God to direct our path.

If we mess up - as in hockey - we wind up in the sin bin. Even good Christians mess up and fall into sin. Even ministers of God’s word do it. We fall for principles of the world, not Christ’s. If we do it “our way," we will crash and burn. Sin leads to death through deception and its consequences.

Chapter 8: Slave to our Thoughts
Satan wants us to be his obedient subjects. Signs of bondage to him are: worry, fear, addiction, doubt, guilt, loneliness, etc. We swap our Christian lives for a momentary high. We struggle to make right choices.

The authors suggest you never make a decision when you are - Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired (HALT). In today’s culture, the traditional family is disappearing—more children are not being raised in a two-parent family. Our moral absolutes are sinking in the quicksand of relativism. We try quick fixes to escape our bondage. When sin is full-grown, you are in bondage, yet there is hope that you can stop it.

PART THREE - Stopping Sin’s Control
We can overcome sinful thoughts because Jesus showed us how. He won His battle against temptation. Whenever a sinful thought comes into your mind, say this out loud: STOP. Each letter in the word has meaning.

Chapter 9: S - Sinful Thoughts Confessed
The author says we should confess our sinful thoughts and actions to God daily. There are no hidden thoughts or deeds with God. He knows it all. Unconfessed sin will surely surface. Satan wants us to cry, “Help, I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up.” But, help is only a prayer and a repentant heart away.

The lost light in your life can be turned on again. Sin’s vicious cycle must be broken. To do it, start with total confession of your sin and begin repentance. The Holy Spirit will change your direction in both thinking and acting. (1 John 1:9) “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” He washes us of our sins. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow.” Step 1 is sinful thoughts confessed.

Chapter 10: T - Think on These Things
Christian meditation focuses on thoughts of God. The Bible tells us to meditate on God’s word, God’s wonders, God’s works. Meditation alerts us to God and helps us deal with sinful thoughts. We tend to keep wrongful thoughts caged inside us. We must let these thoughts out. Then replace them with Biblical thoughts, i.e., whatsoever things are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of good report. We need to fill our spiritual tanks with God’s fuel. We must exchange our sinful thoughts with God-honoring thoughts.

Chapter 11: O - Order Every Thought
Battles with wrong thinking are won or lost in the mind. We are told to “take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ.” If we fail to order our thoughts, a stronghold of sin can develop and start to control us. But God is with us in this furnace of affliction. We should not go to places that invite sinful thoughts. This is especially true in our “sex-drenched society. “ And, this applies equally to men and women. We need to put on the full armor of God and wear our spiritual helmet to protect our minds from Satan’s attacks. We must stand firm for Christ in a sea of shifting tides of opinion and challenges to our faith. We must never let up because our enemy, Satan never does. We should order every thought obedient to Christ.

Chapter 12: P - Pursue Christ-Mindedness
Our sinful thoughts can get away like a runaway train. We need to let God edit out impure thoughts. We should ask, “What would Jesus think and do?” We need to pursue Christ-mindedness - empty out our sins and fill our lives with the Spirit. An accountability partner can help. Someone you can be open with, who asks hard questions about the sins you are battling and who can point out the blocks you have in your spiritual journey. Remember, this is a process. We have to practice God’s STOP method and “set our mind on things above, not on earthly things.”

The book ends with questions for group study and scriptures for applying the STOP method.

What I got most from this book
We all fight this battle with Satan all of our lives. But it is a fight we can and must win. This book clearly shows how to do it and the quicker the better. It is particularly relevant in our world that is over-exposed to all kinds of moral trash.