What Were You Thinking?

What Were You Thinking!?

Monday, June 27, 2016

Jeff Lampl

Pastor and Psychologist Dr. John Ortberg describes this experiment: 

“People were put into one of three groups; one group did nothing; one exercised their pinky finger, a third group spent 15 minutes a day merely thinking about exercising their pinky finger. As expected the exercisers got stronger pinkies. But amazingly—so did the people who merely thought about exercising. Changes in the brain can actually increase physical strength.

He continues,

“No wonder Paul wrote: ‘Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things’ 

Every thought we entertain is, in a real sense, doing a tiny bit of brain surgery on us”

Does this mean that I can I really change? . . . . . 

The answer is “yes”!   You and I can actually rewire our brains, actually change our thought processes.   But it won’t happen through will power.  Habits are what matter.   As Ortberg writes, “habits eat will power for breakfast”.

Citing the newest neurological research, Ortberg says that habits are not just in our brain’s neural pathways, but new habits can actually change those neural pathways so that our brains can be physiologically rewired.   In fact in recent years just such rewiring has been observed visually through neurological imaging technology.

This means we can change!   It means biology isn’t destiny.   The most important part of us can be rewired so that negative people can actually, over time, become more and more Philippians 4:8 believers.

Note not only Ortberg’s mention of the importance of what we do with our bodies, but also his reference to groups implying the importance of an environment that supports the development of new God-centered habits.

“Sanctification is, among other things, the process by which God uses various means of grace to re-program our neural pathways. This is why Thomas Aquinas devoted over 70 pages of the Summa Theologica to the cultivation of holy habits.

It's why 12-step groups appeal, not to willpower, but to acquiring new habits through which we can receive power from God to do what willpower never could.

Neuroscience has helped to show the error of any "spirituality" that divorces our "spiritual life" from our bodies. For example, it has been shown that the brains of healthy people instructed to think about a sad event actually look a lot like the brains of depressed people.

"Spiritual growth" is not something that happens separate from our bodies and brains; it always includes changes within our bodies. Paul wrote, "I beat my body to make it my slave"—words that sound foreign to us, but in fact describe people who seek to master playing the cello or running a marathon. I seek to make the habits and appetites of my body serve my highest values, rather than me becoming a slave to my habits and appetites. What makes such growth spiritual is when it is done through the power and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Paul's language remains unimprovable: We offer our bodies as living sacrifices so that our minds can be renewed.

What habits are you working on which are allowing God to “reprogram” you so that you are becoming a Philippians 4:8 believer? 

Idea!   Start today and continue daily this week meditating on, even memorizing, and certainly practicing Phil. 4:8!

“Lord, thank you for the hope of change.   I want to change.   Lead me into the kind of habits and also into the kind of community that will change me to become more and more like your Son, Jesus, my Lord and my Savior.  Amen”