Thoughts are real, physical things that occupy mental real estate. Moment by moment, every day, you are changing the structure of your brain through your thinking.
- Dr Caroline Leaf.
Just take a moment to let that sink in.
In the book Switch on Your Brain, Dr Caroline Leaf explains that our thoughts are so powerful that they actually take shape and look like trees in our brains! I don't know about you, but I want to grow healthy trees and not rotten, toxic ones! And it is comes down to me and only me to actively choose healthy thoughts, but thankfully, as believers we have God's word to help us and his Spirit to guide us.
2 Corinthians chapter 10, verse 5 states we are to take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ.
I believe this means to not just let our thoughts run wild but to reign them in and consider what we're thinking about!
Detoxing our brains
For the past couple of weeks I have been doing Dr Leaf's '21 Day Brain Detox Program', which for a more thorough explanation can be found in her book or on her website. But for a simplified and paraphrased version, has seen me do the following.
I have gathered, focused and then written down all of my thoughts and then I have looked to see if there is a common 'theme' occurring with my thoughts. After this I have actively focused on one main scripture to replace any toxic thoughts that need to be replaced.
It really surprised me to see that a lot of my thinking was indeed 'toxic' and a lot of my rogue thoughts had a very similar undercurrent which has been replaced with me quoting the same scripture. I now find myself saying this scripture automatically throughout the day when a toxic thought surfaces.
I believe I am now ready to begin a new cycle with a new area to focus on. This excites me as I really am seeing a positive change in my thinking and it really is transforming my life.
Renewing our minds
God says we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans chapter 12, verse 2) and we are to set our minds on things above and not on earthly things (Colossians chapter 3, verse 20). I can now see that for too long I allowed any, old thought to take place and I had even mistaken a lot of my thoughts as truth.
The more I read and study God's word and books on this topic, the more I gain understanding and revelation on the power of our minds and the impact our thoughts can have on our spirit, soul and body. For as a man thinks in his heart so is he (Proverbs chapter 23, verse 7) rings so true to me.
I am thankful for wonderful people like Dr Caroline Leaf for writing such a fantastic book that glorifies God and focuses on his word while explaining the science behind what happens to the structure of our brains when we think.
I pray we can remind ourselves that we do indeed have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians chapter 2, verse 16) and that we can glorify him with our thoughts.
Jo Fuller is an early childhood teacher with degrees in journalism and education. She currently lives on the Sunshine Coast with her husband and young son.
Jo Fuller's archive of articles may be viewed at http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/jo-fuller.html