I Can't Stop Thinking About It: When Christ Rules Your Thoughts

Introduction

"I can't stop thinking about it." You have probably said these words yourself, or heard someone else say them. Salvatore Chiazza, at the Nouvel Impact Church in Liège, makes them the starting point of a message on the lordship of Christ over our thoughts, our emotions and our decisions.

He starts from a question of Jesus, which he invites each person to take personally by putting their own name in it: "Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and don't do the things which I say?" (Luke 6:46). This question is not first about our behavior, but about what happens on the inside.

His conclusion is simple: if Christ is not the Lord of our thoughts and our emotions, he cannot be the Lord of our life. Through the story of Jonah, whom he calls "the modern prophet," he shows where a heart ruled by its emotions leads, then gives spiritual weapons to take back control.

Message Outline

1. The Heart, the Command Center of Your Life

Right before his question, Jesus says: "The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings out that which is good, and the evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings out that which is evil" (Luke 6:45). Right after, he compares the one who hears without putting it into practice to a man who builds his house without a foundation: the storm comes and the house collapses.
Jesus is not talking about the physical heart, that pump which circulates the blood. Nor is he talking about the little heart we send in messages, paying attention to its color.
The biblical heart is the source of life. The preacher gives a short definition: "the command center of our being, where our thoughts, our emotions, our decisions and our actions are born."
God looks at the heart before he looks at the outside. If Christ is not the Lord of our emotions, he cannot be the Lord of our life.

2. "I Can't Help It": A Spiritual Battle

The sentence "I can't stop thinking about it" goes in four directions: I can't help it, it's the devil, it's God, or it's just a thought. The message answers each one.
Many people experience themselves as spectators, victims of their thoughts: a sentence heard in the morning, a situation at work or at church, a girl met at the bus stop or at camp.
The rat experiment: a photo of a rat is displayed ("there are many in Liège") and people are asked to stop thinking about it, or about its gray color, or its long tail. The more you try, the more you think about it. Trying not to think about something is thinking about it.
"You don't win the battle of thoughts by willpower, or by discipline." The thought goes away and comes back stronger.
Paul says the opposite, that we are not condemned to endure: "bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5). The preacher speaks of putting handcuffs on our thoughts.
How the heart works: an emotion feeds thoughts, which feed decisions, which feed actions. The problem is a heart that runs in a closed circuit. Where is Jesus in this equation? When the heart runs like this, our emotions are the lord.
Emotions are not bad: "Thank you, Lord, for emotions." They allow us to feel and to enter into relationship. But God did not give them to us to decide and direct our life. Feeling anger, discouragement or sexual attraction is one thing; being entirely dominated by them is another.
"A heart that is not under the lordship of Christ falls under the dictatorship of emotions." The world says "listen to your heart," and even Christians spiritualize it by asking "are you at peace?" Be careful: peace does not always come from God.

3. Jonah, a Man Ruled by His Emotions

God says to Jonah: "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their wickedness has come up before me" (Jonah 1:2). Jonah gets up to flee to Tarshish, in the opposite direction.
Israel is then threatened by the Assyrians, and Nineveh is their capital. God sends Jonah to preach grace and repentance to his enemies. Chapter 4 shows it: Jonah does not agree with God. He is filled with fear, hatred, nationalism, anger and a desire for revenge.
First consequence: his emotions take him in the opposite direction from God's plan. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is desperately wicked. Who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9). If you listen to your heart like Jonah, you will go in the opposite direction.
There is no righteous person, not even one. As in the parable of the lost sheep, everyone needs repentance: there are only those who admit it and those who don't.
Second consequence: "he went down to Joppa" (Jonah 1:3). When you listen to your emotions, you go down, you sink into hatred, resentment, anger, your impulses or your addictions.
Third consequence: "so he paid its fare." You will pay a price: your reputation, your testimony, your sleep, your health. The preacher has seen people pay it in their marriage or in their relationship with their children or their parents.
During the storm, Jonah sleeps in the hold of the ship. When our emotions are our lord and we are aligned with them, we sleep well, at peace, while doing what God disapproves of. The pastor admits that he has sometimes done God's will without feeling peace, and sometimes not done it while being at peace.
Fourth consequence: others pay. Jonah knows he is the cause of the storm, but he tells the sailors: "Take me up, and cast me into the sea" (Jonah 1:12). You come home in a bad mood and the whole house pays for your emotions.
"When I let my heart speak, I am generous, I love." That is not Christian love: if you are led by your emotions, you will be manipulated by those who know how to lead them. Christian love is a decision, a sacrifice, a gift that does not vary with emotions or circumstances.

4. First Weapon: Think of the Lion and Preach to Your Heart

After the rat, the preacher displays a lion. His son had just given a presentation on the lion at school, and he describes its power.
Judah, one of the twelve sons of Jacob, has the lion as his emblem. The scepter will not depart from Judah (Genesis 49:10), David is among his descendants, and Jesus, son of David, is called the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Revelation 5:5).
While we were talking about the lion, everyone forgot the rat. You cannot drive out a thought by willpower, but you can replace it. When you think of Jesus, you set aside your fear, your doubts and temptation.
Jeremiah does exactly this in Lamentations: "Remember my affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. My soul still remembers them, and is bowed down within me. This I recall to my mind; therefore I have hope. It is because of Yahweh's loving kindnesses that we are not consumed, because his compassions don't fail. They are new every morning" (Lamentations 3:19-23).
This is not a psychological technique but a spiritual practice: replacing the devil's lies with the truth of God's Word.
The psalmist does not just listen to his heart, he speaks to it: "Why are you in despair, my soul? Why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God!" (Psalm 42:5). The pastor wants everyone to become "a preacher to their own soul."
Your heart talks to you all day long: fear, resentment, anger, despair, giving up. You don't have to believe it. You can answer it: "It's true, humanly speaking I could be afraid, I could take revenge. But the Lion of Judah showed me mercy. I will show mercy." What your heart says is not the word of the Gospel.

5. "It's the Devil": Second Weapon, Stop Watering

The devil exists, but the Nouvel Impact Church wants to respect the proportions of the Bible, which speaks far more about God and Jesus than about the devil. We must not give him divine attributes: God is everywhere, the devil is not omnipresent. The Bible presents him as the accuser of those whom God has chosen (Revelation 12:10).
It is easy to blame the devil to shed our responsibility. Jesus says: "from within, out of the hearts of men, proceed the evil thoughts" (Mark 7:21). The problem is on the inside, not on the outside.
The sailors look for the problem outside: each one prays to his own god and they throw the cargo overboard. They lose everything to keep Jonah in the boat, when the problem is inside the boat.
A direct application: if keeping someone in your life costs you everything of value, maybe that person has no business in your boat. The pastor makes clear that he is not talking about a spouse, but about certain friendships and relationships.
Jesus compares thoughts to a seed, and his Word as well. Watered, the seed becomes a plant, then a tree. Which seed are you watering? You cannot stop the birds from flying over your head, but you can stop them from building their nest in your hair.
Concrete examples: if you resent someone and talk about it to everyone, you are watering. If you can't stop thinking about that girl, start by no longer looking at her profile ten times a day. If you struggle with comparison, press the Snapchat, TikTok or Instagram icon for three seconds, then the little cross.
About a racist shooting that took place in France, the preacher points out that nobody gets up one morning with such an idea: something was sown and fed for a long time, through books, videos, discussions and jokes. In the same way, nobody wakes up saying "today, I'm going to cheat on my wife."

6. "It's God": Third Weapon, the Filter of the Word

The thought that comes back most often does not necessarily come from God. Jonah, an Israelite, probably dreamed that God would bring justice against the Assyrians. This very spiritual thought, "we are the people of God," did not come from God, because God is a God of mercy.
First question: does this thought suit me? If it flatters your ego or your resentment, if it proves you right against everyone, be wary. The most spiritual people the pastor has known are those with the sharpest awareness of their sin.
Second question: does this thought bring me closer to God or send me to Tarshish? You can judge a thought by the direction it leads.
Third question: does it produce love or contempt? Look at the fruit: humility or pride, peace or conflict, unity or division.
Fourth question: could I say this thought out loud, before God and in broad daylight? Does it hold up if I say it to a brother or to my spouse?
Fifth question: does this thought accuse me to crush me, or does it challenge me to build me up and lift me higher?
Finally, the filter of Philippians 4:8: "whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure [...] think about these things." If a thought is just but not true, or honorable but not pure, it does not come from God.

7. "It's Just a Thought": Guard Your Heart

"It's never just a thought." And often, it's not a right thought. "Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it is the wellspring of life" (Proverbs 4:23).
The pastor opens up: "I was Jonah." Ruled by his emotions, convinced he was always right, he went in the opposite direction, he went down, and it cost him dearly.
You don't have to repeat Jonah's mistakes, neither his own, nor those of your parents or your friends. It is not a question of emotions, it is a question of obedience: obeying your emotions or obeying God.
When he shares his heart in his house group, a brother always answers him: "Guard your heart, my brother." That is the message he passes on in turn.
The problem is not the house but the foundation. Place the Lord Jesus on every floor: in your emotions, your thoughts, your decisions and your actions. Your life will not necessarily be easy, but your house will stand in the storm, and nothing and no one will keep God from leading you where he has planned.

Key Takeaways

The biblical heart is the command center of your being: if Christ does not rule your thoughts and emotions, he does not rule your life.
Emotions are a gift from God, but they are not meant to direct your life. A heart outside the lordship of Christ falls under the dictatorship of emotions.
Like Jonah, whoever follows his emotions goes in the opposite direction from God's plan, goes down, pays a price and makes others pay it.
You don't drive out a thought by willpower: you replace it with God's truth, you preach to your heart and you stop watering what feeds it.
A thought does not come from God because it comes back often or seems spiritual: run it through the filter of Philippians 4:8 and guard your heart.

Personal Application

Which thought makes you say "I can't stop thinking about it" right now? Which of the four directions do you give it: I can't help it, it's the devil, it's God, or it's just a thought?
In what recent situation did you let your emotions decide for you? Who around you paid the price?
Which truth from God's Word can you "recall to your mind" this week to replace a thought that is bringing you down?
What are you watering without realizing it: a conversation, a profile, an app, a resentment? Which "little cross" can you press today?
Does a thought that seems spiritual to you suit you a little too well? Does it pass the filter of Philippians 4:8?

Bible Verses Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

What does "the heart" mean in the Bible?

For Salvatore Chiazza, the biblical heart is not only the seat of feelings. It is the command center of our being, where our thoughts, our emotions, our decisions and our actions are born. That is why God looks at the heart before he looks at the outside.

How can I stop thinking about something that obsesses me?

You don't win the battle of thoughts by willpower: trying not to think about something is still thinking about it. The preacher suggests replacing the thought with the truth of God's Word, speaking to your heart instead of listening to it, and stopping the watering of what feeds the thought.

How can I know if a thought comes from God?

Salvatore Chiazza offers five questions: does this thought suit me? Does it bring me closer to God? Does it produce love or contempt? Could I say it out loud before God? Does it accuse me to crush me, or challenge me to build me up? It must also pass the filter of Philippians 4:8.