Romans 12:2(NIV) Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing, and perfect will.
When the Apostle Paul wrote Romans 12:2, he did not know about brain chemistry or have insights from today’s brain research. But he may have been the first neologist to show us THE WAY. He was inspired by the Holy Spirit, who knows human brains better than scientists or psychiatrists ever will. That is why Paul’s words are confirmed through modern insights of neology. It is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Ever since those words were penned, believers have experienced transformation through mind renewal, finding THE WAY. A process of forsaking past patterns, false beliefs, and unhealthy alignment with the world’s patterns of sin, and replacing those harmful ways with new patterns, belief in Jesus’ saving love, and alignment with God’s way of truth and forgiveness.
Only recently have brain studies revealed that believing the right things about God and his love can help heal and physically rewire the brain’s composition. Timothy R. Jennings, M.D., writes in his book, The God Shaped Brain: How Changing Your View of God Transforms Your Life, “When God’s methods for increasing brain health (Rom. 12:2) and nurturing mental stability are applied, the brain circuits of the prefrontal cortex actually grow stronger and, despite previous damage, healing ensues. Healthy connections grow and develop. If you are someone who has suffered abuse during childhood, or if you’ve struggled with an overly active limbic system resulting in too much aggression, irritability, impatience, anger, lust, selfishness, fear, or insecurity, don’t be discouraged. God’s methods bring healing. And what are God’s methods? Truth, love, and freedom. In order to be beneficial, treatment must be applied; truth is only beneficial when it is understood, believed, and applied.”
Growth in THE WAY, renewal, does not come from trying harder; it comes from believing better. A believer’s brain will create strong pathways, or neural networks, based on God’s truth, and old or inactive pathways will be destroyed and replaced as a person stays in the Word and prays daily. Make them a habit. So, let’s not conform to this world. Let’s be transformed by the renewal and rewiring of our minds to find THE WAY.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, I come before You, acknowledging that You are the designer of my brain. Lord, I surrender every cell, neural pathway, and memory to You. According to Romans 12:2, I ask for a total transformation—a renewing of my mind to find THE WAY.
Paul Malmrose, Doing Daily Devotionals since 1995
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