A simple search of the Internet produces all kinds of information – sometimes contradictory – about rewiring our brains. The consensus seems to be this: Activity in the brain involves chemical and electric signals traveling along neural pathways. The actions we take, and in particular, the habits we form, affect our neural pathways. Basically, the more we do something, the less resistance there is in our brains to doing that thing. As a person ages, the brain loses neuroplasticity, that is, its ability to alter its neural pathways, or “rewire” itself.
Seemingly everything we do changes our brains. For years, scientists have pointed to reading as a key activity for rewiring the brain. For example, I found an article on science.org in which the author, speaking from an evolutionary framework, discusses comparisons of brains in literate and non-literate individuals. Brain development and usage showed differences between those who could read and those who could not. While I disagree with the evolutionary explanations in the article, the main point remains: reading changes the brain.
If what we do rewires our brains, then we can change our identities by changing our actions. We can also change ourselves by reading. Paul uses three related terms in his letters, which appear in the ESV as “renewal” and “renew.” In Romans 12:2, Ephesians 4:23, and Colossians 3:10, he uses these terms with reference to the mind. In 2 Corinthians 4:16, it refers to the inner self. While Titus 3:5 speaks of renewal as a work of the Holy Spirit, Colossians 3:10 says the new person is “renewed in knowledge.” However else the Holy Spirit may operate today, He certainly changes our minds when we read and study the Scriptures!
Do you sometimes find that you are not the person you would like to be? Do you find it hard to change? Our brains literally “get into grooves,” making it easier to do what we have “always done,” and harder to change. Nearly everything we do, though, has the potential to create new neural pathways in our brains. Reading the Bible should top the list. When we read and meditate on God’s Word, He is literally changing our minds, and therefore, our person. The more the mind changes, the more our actions will follow. So, be the person God would have you to be; let Him change you day by day –
Read His Word!
Clay Leonard
