26 March 2022
…think about such things. (Philippians 4:8)
God is truly demonstrating His greatness when He inspired Paul to write these specific words: think about such things. God knows how our brains work and that whatever we consistently think about really does create patterns in our gray matter, literally thought patterns.
Neuroscience has shown us that lines of thought, whether good or bad, create lines in our brain, neural pathways of synapses that get stronger and stronger with repeated use.31 For example, if we taste a doughnut and it is pleasing, a groove begins to form in our brain that doughnuts are pleasing. When we taste lima beans and find them displeasing, a groove forms telling us the same. The same holds true in our thinking about ourselves, others, and God.
If we look in the mirror and see only shame, that way of thinking will only get more embedded without some help and healing. If we learned growing up to avoid people who are different than we are or were taught that God is more about anger than love, then without concerted correction, those beliefs will become ingrained.
Similar things happen when we focus on false, ugly, unjust, evil thoughts. Our brain becomes conditioned and grooves become ruts that then become our natural way of thinking.
We must literally change our minds. God through Paul is telling us to do exactly that by choosing our thoughts, choosing what we think about: whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy.
Consider what it doesn’t say: Whatever you’re not sure is true, or you wish were true, or wish wasn’t true, whatever is popular, whatever makes me look lovely or proves I’m right—if anything lets me feel sorry for myself or if anyone’s untrustworthy— think about such things. This is not what the Scriptures point to, but it’s so often where our minds go. One of my (Rob’s) preachers when I was younger used to call that “stinkin’ thinkin’.”
God knew we’d get stuck in negative ruts from time to time. He planned for this. He inspired Paul to let us know how to overcome our natural human way of thinking that will eventually and reliably lead to anxiety, depression, fear, and shame.
The craziest and best thing of all? Neuroscience also shows that when new ways of thinking start, the old ruts die off and the new grooves begin to take over. All we have to do is consistently focus on what’s good and godly and think about such things.
Think on this: What excellent or lovely or noble thing do I need to begin focusing on today? Which old ruts do I need to allow to fade and what new ways of thinking do I need to form?
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(This is an excerpt from my and Tamara’s book, A Centered Soul.)
A NECESSARY REMINDER…
"In the final analysis, Christians are not necessarily nicer people than everybody else, we're just better informed."
Frederick Buechner in Wishful Thinking
FROM MY READING…
“The point of 1 Corinthians 13 is that love is not our duty; it is our destiny. It is the language Jesus spoke, and we are called to speak it so that we can converse with him. It is the food they eat in God’s new world, and we must acquire the taste for it here and now. It is the music God has written for all his creatures to sing, and we are called to learn it and practice it now so as to be ready when the conductor brings down his baton. It is the resurrection life, and the resurrected Jesus calls us to begin living it with him and for him right now. Love is at the very heart of the surprise of hope: people who truly hope as the resurrection encourages us to hope will be people enabled to love in a new way. Conversely, people who are living by this rule of love will be people who are learning more deeply how to hope.”
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WORTH YOUR TIME…
Just scroll down a bit on the homepage of Emotionally Healthy Discipleship to start this assessment. I love everything they produce. Really excellent and much needed by the church and Christians today.
A PRAYER TO BREATHE…
“Lord, turn my mind toward You and Your truth again today.”