2 Corinthians 10:5 instructs us to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. This is no easy task and to accomplish it requires not just a reliance upon the Holy Spirit, but it also requires us to take ownership and responsibility for the thoughts that we allow to wander in our minds. When we ask God to help us control our thought lives, He will begin the task of revealing to us areas that do not align with His Word. This often gets ugly, especially when God starts digging into deeply rooted issues which we've been refusing to acknowledge and to turn over to Him.

I've seen both sides of this. I'm not good with filtering my emotions. My emotions often weave a giant web of confusion in my head, but God has been gently and patiently removing what does not conform to  His best for me.  It has not been fun, and I'd be a liar if I said that I haven't tried to fight Him about the disruption I've felt He has been causing me. Once I cry uncle and submit to God, the results are not always instantaneous, but the evidence of the work being done can be seen.

Over the past few years I've struggled with doubts. I've hauled around the heavy burden of resentment, sometimes towards God and sometimes towards people.  I've found myself in denial of obvious realities. I've created problems and blamed others and God for the messes they resulted in.  I've sprinted in the opposite direction from God's voice in ways that make Jonah appear to be obedient. All of these examples came to fruition as a result of not properly identifying and dealing with emotions.

Emotions will lie. In order to conquer emotions  rather  than be conquered by them, we must train to recognize them. We must pay close attention to which ones can overcome us the easiest. We must learn our strong spots and weak spots. We must pay attention to triggers.And more importantly, we must study God's Word and compare if how we are feeling and reacting matches His standards.