Westside Podcast

Can Reading the Bible Actually Rewire Your Brain? Neuroplasticity & the Nun Study

• Westside Community Church

Share episode

Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.

0:00 | 33:14

Send us Fan Mail

What if "renewing your mind" isn't just a nice phrase — what if it's something happening physically, inside your brain? This week Jess sits down with Rachel for a deep dive into one fascinating question: does reading the Bible actually change your brain? They get into the neuroscience, the Scripture, and the real-life moments where the Word of God shifted something they could genuinely feel.

Discover:

  • The science of neuroplasticity — and why it lines up with what Scripture already said
  • Romans 12:2 and what "renewing your mind" looks like at the level of your actual brain
  • The famous nun study on aging, Alzheimer's, and the power of cognitive reserve
  • Why self-help can only take you as far as you can take yourself — and where grace changes the math
  • Gabe's simple framework: here daily, discuss weekly, obey immediately
  • How obedience becomes confirmation (and one very unexpected kitten)

Reflection paragraph:
Here's the encouraging part: you are not stuck with the thought patterns you've always had. Your brain is malleable, your mind can lead it, and God built you with the capacity to change. But the change isn't about white-knuckling positive thinking — it's about partnering with God, choosing your input, and deciding ahead of time what truth you'll reach for when your thoughts start to spiral. You put in the work; grace multiplies it past anything you could do on your own.

Key Takeaways:

  • You're not a victim of your biology — you get to be a co-creator of your future alongside God
  • Don't just stop the negative thought, replace it; know your truth before you need it (Philippians 4:8)
  • Community accelerates growth — connect with people a little further down the road than you
  • Ask the real questions. If you're actually after truth, you'll find it
  • Obey immediately. Alignment with God is the goal, and confirmation tends to follow

Question for you to think about:
What's one thought you keep defaulting to — and what's the truth from God's Word you could intentionally replace it with this week?

Calls to Action:
If this encouraged you, hit subscribe, give it a like, and share it with someone who needs it. Got a question about the Bible — how it was put together, where it came from, what it actually is? Drop it in the comments. We're getting into exactly that next week, and we may answer yours on the show. And if you're local, come visit a weekend service at Westside.

Hashtags:
#MidweekMotivation #WestsideCommunityChurch #Neuroplasticity #RenewYourMind #FaithAndScience #Romans12 #RewireYourBrain #SwitchOnYourBrain #ChristianPodcast #ChristianMentalHealth #SpiritualGrowth #Philippians4 #BibleStudy #Faith

SPEAKER_02

So there was a study done with HIV patients that showed that if they thought positive thoughts and had positive feelings, they were watch this, 300,000 times more resistant to the disease. Mind blowing. And so the the basically what these what these scientists had studied shows us they've proved that we can renew our minds, just like the Bible says.

SPEAKER_00

Welcome to the Midweek Motivation Podcast, where we bring practical help for your faith and life. Here's today's episode.

SPEAKER_01

Romans 12, 2, right? For that one? Romans 12.2. That's so cool. Makes me think of um what is the scripture? First, I have it here, uh, First Corinthians 9, 25 through 27. Um, so uh for anybody who's joining us, my name is Jess. And this is I'm Rachel DeCaro. Woo woo. Rachel is joining us again for a wonderful uh uh deep dive conversation into uh this question, and I'm fascinated by it. And I love that Rachel's joining us because she's also fascinated and has done way more research on it than I have. So but the question is does reading the Bible actually change our minds? Like, and when I say actually, I mean like physically change our brains, right? Does it actually change our brains? And um this book that Rachel is gonna reference, but and so she's got the information about it. Um, I was listening to it, and at the very beginning, the author um makes a clear distinction between our brain, the organ, and our minds, which is what really just kind of controls all of it. And I think that we see that uh that biblically too. We like we see that distinction in the Bible. And uh it makes me think of 1 Corinthians 9, 25 through 27. All athletes are disciplined in their training, they do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an ext uh for an eternal prize. Sorry, I'm reading my own writing here. Uh and so Paul says, I run with purpose in every step. I'm not shadow boxing. It's like I'm not faking it out. I'm doing it with purpose. Otherwise, I fear um after preaching to others, I might uh myself be disqualified. And uh, and the thing that's encouraging to me about that is the fact that our minds actually like we can be disciplined not only in our bodies, but in our brains, right? Like our minds can help us to discipline our bodies and our brains. But we really just have to choose how we discipline, like what source we're using to discipline, right? Yep. What we focus on. Yeah. What's what the input is. Yes, exactly. So that's what we're talking about today. Yes.

SPEAKER_02

It's so good.

SPEAKER_01

It's so good. So uh so we're free forming it here, right? This is just a podcast. And so we're just chatting about this idea. And so, Rachel, when uh like what to you has been the biggest draw of doing research on this, just out of curiosity.

SPEAKER_02

Well, that's a good question. I am so fascinated. Um, so the book that um that we're that Jess was talking about is called Switch on Your Brain by Dr. Caroline Leith. And I think it's when I started learning about her work that I got really, really fascinated by it. I've been and I in quantum physics, I'm fascinated by like how how our thoughts physically change things, like um our brains. I mean, she talks about that here in the book a so many different ways, so many different times. And so, and while I was reading this book the first time I ever read it, I was feeling myself, I was feeling my brain react differently. And one way that she talks about it is that we um we build grooves in our brain. So it's like, okay, this is the way I react to this type of thing, this is the way, this is the way. And it becomes like a rut. And then, but with neuroscientist science, she basically explains that we can perform brain surgery on ourselves by our thoughts. And so when when we intentionally switch the dot, right? Like instead of saying, I'm so this and that, and blah, blah, blah, and beating myself up, whatever, and that's the nut, that's the regular way I go, then if I stop, stop, and I say, excuse me, no, I am, I am wonderfully made in my room, womb, in my mother's womb by God. He intentionally made me for purpose and say things like that instead, that creates a new neural pathway that the more I use it, the less this one's used. This starts to go away, and I start to hop over here and default mode to this one. And so that type of thing just blows my mind because it's like we have this power, and it's not just us though, it's because God gave it to us. Yeah, we have a power that God put inside of us to be able to do stuff like this, which is just crazy to me.

SPEAKER_01

How it's how we were created. Yeah. Like we touched on this a little bit um just in conversation about how uh how more and more we're seeing, and I don't have stats for this in particular, but they're more and more we're seeing science align with what the word of God says, right? And then when we think specifically, because I batting this around just in in reality, I've never thought about really specifically controlling my mind in a uh an a removed sense. I've always thought of it in the context of reading God's word. So it makes me think of Philippians 4.7, I think it is. Uh I have Philip, I just have Philippians 4 on my note. But it's that it's that passage where God tells us what to fix our thoughts on. He says, fix your thoughts on what's true, what's honorable, noble, honest. My screensaver. Yeah. 4.8. There it is. 4-8. Yep. Yeah. Um, think about what's right, just pure, lovely, admirable, uh, commendable, excellence, praiseworthy. I have this note on my uh computer because it uh it reminds me when my thoughts are, like you said, like out of alignment, out of whack, when they're going crazy. It reminds me what I'm supposed to be thinking of. And I learned this little trick. Uh I say I learned this trick. I think like God prompted me to into this trick trick where I I need to think ahead about what those things actually are, not just like theoretically, what's true, honorable, noble, honest, like, but what practically what that means to me right now. So that when my brain starts going into wonky places, I can do exactly what you said. Stop. Like, nope, I'm not thinking about that. I'm stopping right now. But I can't just say that I have to know what I'm gonna replace it with, right?

SPEAKER_02

Yes, yes. It must be replaced. Yeah. And we have to focus our mind on the things that are were praiseworthy and lovely and admirable and all that stuff. Yeah. So good. Yeah. Yep. Yep, yep, yep.

SPEAKER_01

So, so, uh, so you started to really dive into this stuff and you've had some practical experiences. I think uh I think one of the questions that people might ask is okay, but there's like it's proven that neuroplasticity is a thing. It's proven like once upon a time, we didn't think that the brain changed at all. We thought that it was like it was what it was.

SPEAKER_02

Like I forget uh uh I I don't know if it's what it was fixed, but yeah, it's now we're learning it's flexible or something less. I don't know the terms exactly either, but yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah. It's so very much like uh uh it can heal itself, it can change. And like I I did a little bit of research all the way up until like 83. Your brain like has these different moments in time where it like focuses on a certain kind of a shift, all the way up until you're like 83.

SPEAKER_02

Oh my gosh, yes. There's a study that I just read about with nuns that um keep going, and I'm gonna look for this because I didn't sure know where to find it, but it's okay.

SPEAKER_01

If I can read it, it's so good. Cool. Well, so so it's interesting that once upon a time we thought that our brain couldn't really change, and now we know so much that it can. And uh I think um the thing that that I think about when I think about this is okay, well, there's so many different um ways that we can take our brain. If our mind is in control of our body, if our mind is in control of our brain and our brain is flexible and we can change it, um, like what I think that it leads to the question, how like what's the best way to change it, right? Because right now we have so many different resources at our fingertips and uh we can go in so many different ways. And so the question that I think Gabe talked about and answered that we we really have been talking about in this whole series is why is the Bible the thing that we should lean into and the thing that we should should use to change our brain, right? Because we've proven that our brain does change. Yes, it's plastic, yeah, yeah, neuroplastic. Yeah. And so uh, so why is the Bible the thing that we should use to to uh uh to form it, to transform it, you know? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

So there is um I I was so amazed when I was watching Gabe's um message this weekend because he talked about how he was really struggling at one point and he read the Bible and it said it took him seven minutes to just whip it back into shape. And um I had a very similar experience this week where I woke up from a super scary dream and I it felt so real and I was kind of freaking out, and I was like, should I call somebody? And it was I looked at what time it was and it was 6 32, and so I went to my Bible app and I typed in six whatever that two dots are and then colony, I think. Yeah, yeah. I think so. Yeah, the colon six colon 32, and then all these different things popped up, and um, like let's see, so this one was really good. I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. I will guide you with my eye. That's Psalms 32, and it was verse 8 that applied that felt more connected to me. But then it also came up with Matthew 6, 31 through 33. So do not worry, saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear? For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly father knows that you need them, but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Don't worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow will worry about itself. That's another one. And then John 6 32, then Jesus said to them, Most assuredly I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but my father gives you the true bread from heaven. It's like that bread didn't just fall out of nowhere. God gave it to him, you know? And so I think by having an eye, I changed. Like I felt my body relax and I felt my worries start to go away. And I didn't feel like I needed to call anybody else in that moment. It was just like I tapped into God and I and I I started with my app, but then I whipped out my actual Bible and like was going through those verses and looking through other verses and just flipping to where it felt like I needed to go. And so it was it was a palpable change in in my mind and in my body from reading the Bible. Um so I geek out from you know books like this, and and this book does link biblical um verses with scientific stuff. So I love that it it shows how science is catching up with the Bible and how all of these things have been biblical truths for so long. Um so to me that's a game changer. Um so yeah, like for you, have you had have you had times like that where you were able to see that the word of God or your experiences because of reading the word of God led you to feel different?

SPEAKER_01

Oh yeah, yeah. And I've gone through the whole gamut too. Like I I have shared my story before, you know, I went through a a significant period of time where I just chose not to follow God. Yeah. I just I was like, this doesn't work actually. So um I'm gonna go out and I'm gonna try some other things. Yeah, I'm gonna try to be in charge myself. And uh and so, you know, I've done the uh like I've I've checked out other spiritual, you know, type themes and uh options. I've uh I uh doubled down hardcore on self-help stuff. And the fun the fun thing is, is that I think that in all of the things that I have just like experimented with and tried, um, what I discovered specifically with the help, the self-help stuff, you know, there's all kinds of different um I like different tricks and tools that you can use to make yourself more productive. There's all kinds of different things that you can lean into for relational healing and guidance on like how to become emotionally healthy and have emotional IQ. There's all kinds of like Myers Briggs things on how to to like discover who you are truly and all that stuff. And I and all of them that I did are were very valuable. Like I got something out of all of that stuff. I implement a lot of that stuff now. Yeah. And I go in and uh and lean into that stuff. And when I go into the Bible and start reading, like when I first came back to to God, I did a lot of the that same stuff, like that whole I've got a uh like something real specific that's heavy, something real specific that's freaked me out, something real specific that I'm wrestling with that I need to find answers on when I when I came back. I would to God, I would do the like flip the Bible open and just let it land where it lands, and would read and and almost always found something valuable that would like lift me up or give me some sort of a direction or something. Or I go to the back of my Bible in the concordance and I'd look up a word like or a theme or something. Like, what does the Bible say about this specific issue, like this relationship? What does the Bible say about uh most recently I've gone in to do a deep dive on what does the Bible say about caring for your elderly parents? Like, yeah and the the the instruction and stuff in there almost always aligns with like all of the stuff that we see in the world as far as like like backed proven self-help stuff. Right. Like I I see a parallel in in the Bible. I think the the difference is that I came to a realization, I don't know, 10, 15 years ago, that that only helps me get where I can make it take me. Like putting that work in it only does what I can do with it. Yeah. And then uh the the beautiful thing about the Bible is that it um like when you're partnering and walking with God in that stuff, then I take it where I need to because I'm participating. Yeah, you know, you gotta participate. But then the there's this thing called grace where God takes that thing that I'm investing in and that that thing that I'm doing, and he multiplies it beyond my own like comprehension and imagination. And he takes the healing way beyond what I possibly could. He takes the understanding way beyond what I possibly can. He takes the fruit of the work way beyond what I possibly can. And so I think that's the the piece that is really beautiful is that God created us as beings that have a brain and a body, and he gave us a heart and a soul that includes a mind that can discipline our body and our brain. And when we partner with him, though, like he's the one that does all of the like I don't even know how to do it. Huh? The behind the scenes work, yeah. The multiplication. Like he takes it above and beyond anything I ever could, you know. Yeah. Seriously. So yes, I have.

SPEAKER_02

Yes, so good. And okay, as you were as you were saying that, this is one of the parts of the book that I think is so impactful. This is on page 53. She says, our choices have an impact, our choices become physiology, and what we believe as well as what we believe about ourselves, alters the facts. We are not victims of our biology, we are co-creators of our destiny alongside God. God leads, but we have to choose to let God lead.

SPEAKER_01

We are not victims of our own biology. How many uh like times have you felt like you were a victim of just the way that things are, right? Like so many times. Like that's my whole adolescence. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

You know, like me five days ago when I was something was hurting, and I was like, is this ever gonna end?

SPEAKER_01

God, why did you make me like this? Yeah, you know, but the truth is it is that we're not victims of the way that God created us, and you know, that we can partner with God and actually take every thought captive. We can we can um change our brain. That's super cool.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. I think, isn't that the the verse? Um oh no, Romans 12, too, that we referenced before is don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Neuroplasticity. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Yeah. So good. Love so good.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. So I guess I think uh like practical next steps are one of the things that I absol absolutely love. I hate getting stuck. I hate like I always want to know what the next thing is that I can do with what we're talking about. So when uh so I don't know, when you were at a point five days ago or however long ago, you know, where you're like, uh um like I want to take a next step, I want to move forward, I want to change something significant and partner with God in doing that. Like, yeah. Did were there was there like can you point to maybe a a question or a barrier that got in the way and how you addressed it? Like, talk to a person who's like, okay, well, I want to take a next step here. What do I do? What do you think?

SPEAKER_02

Okay, let me see. I I wanna just quickly talk that nun study that I was telling you. Oh, yeah, sorry. So um, it says that in 1986, researcher David Snowden began studying 678 Catholic nuns, and what he found reshaped our understanding of aging. They donated their brains for autopsy, um, and many had written autobiographical essays in their early 20s. So he discovered something remarkable regarding the linguistic complexity of those young adult essays that predicted who would develop Alzheimer's decades later. And it says, even more striking, some nuns whose brains showed extensive Alzheimer's pathology at autopsy had shown no symptoms in life. So their brains showed that they had um Alzheimer's, but they didn't act like it. It didn't seem like it to people outside. Um, and they had built enough cognitive reserve through education, mental engagement, and social connection to mask the underlying damage. So their brains he acted differently, and part of it is to me a big part of it that stood out was that social connection. So I'm gonna wrap it back to Gabe's message again. So he said, what did he say? He said, Hear daily. Hear daily, discuss weekly. Yeah. Discuss weekly. Socialize. Connect with people. And not just connecting with people, but connecting with people specifically about God's word. So we can discuss it, so we can hold each other accountable. So we can dive deeper into it. Um, which helps us hear it. So hear daily, discuss weekly. And then um, what was the last thing he said? It was obey immediately. Dude, get it. So for for me, it's it's all of those things for sure. It's like I read my Bible every morning. Um, and now I've almost even lost the question that you asked. And do you remember what you asked?

SPEAKER_01

What next steps? Like how can we apply what we're what we're learning practically? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. So I to me, a big one, a huge one, especially with like mental health, which is a big thing for me, is to be connected. Like get connected in community and like deepen the connection with the people that you have in that community in those communities. Um and be intentional about who the community is that you seek out.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. You know? Yeah. We talk about that hand hand forward, hand back thing. Like make sure that you're connecting uh with people who are a little bit ahead of you, who maybe are on the same journey and they've been investigating and diving in a little bit deeper. Yes. I think I think that speaks to something that is um uh like a value of mind when it comes to diving into the Bible, and that's critical thinking. And so I think that that one of the reasons why this is such a a big thing for me is what is one of the things that keeps us from really diving into the Bible and allowing the Bible to actually change us is doubt personally. I think that uh that I say this all the time. I think that if you're looking for the truth, then you're gonna find it. And and so a lot of times we won't ask the questions that we have because we're afraid to find the answer, yeah, um, or because we're intimidated to ask. But that really is just only getting in the way of uh discovering God's word and the truth, I think. And so um, yeah, so so think critically, ask your questions. And if you're doing that with a group of people who are uh on the same track as you, who are also looking for the truth, who are a little bit ahead of you, or a lot ahead of you, frankly. You can and you can you can trust and and are comfortable with them, you can engage with them and you can have these conversations and ask your like real questions and just like get into it with them. I think that um that that really helps to find truth, helps to find clarity. It and and you're not doing it in a way that is blinded, you know, you're doing it in a way that is is genuinely seeking that, you know, having eyes to eyes to see and ears to hear. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, you you want to know the truth no matter what it is, even if it doesn't align with what you believed before. Yeah. Right? Because yeah, because what you said, right? You can you can what did it you said you'll find what you're looking for, right? So if you're looking to just confirm what you believe already, you can find that. But if you're looking to find the actual truth, yeah, you will find that too. Which might change your mind. Yeah. Like the Bible.

unknown

Woo, wood.

SPEAKER_01

That's awesome. I love it. Yeah. Um, okay. What else? What what other things like tips uh and takeaways? I think I love the I'm gonna circle it back to Gabe's um service to the obey immediately. Like we are you and I were batting this around a little bit, and I think that um that God gives us permission if we're seeking the truth, if we want him to actually reveal himself. Um, he gives us permission to throw things out there and be like, really? And I think this uh obedience piece is one of the fastest ways to get to uh that that understanding that faith that um uh what was that? What was it that we were talking about? That it's one of the fastest ways to get to uh confirmation of our faith, you know? Yeah. Is obedience. Because if we are getting into the word and we're reading scripture and uh we're convicted by something, something in scripture says what it is that we're doing right now doesn't align with what God's word says. I think the obey immediately piece of it does so many things. Number one, it um allows us to align it immediately with with God in obedience. That's the number one goal, right? And uh number two, I think what it does is it uh allows us to to I want to say test, but I don't think that's the the right word. Um you know, to to test out and to look for that truth and that confirmation. That's confirmation, not test. Confirmation is the word. Okay. The Bible says not to test God. You know what I mean? Right. And I think I think that I think that we can actually test him. I think what he's asking us to not do is is to not be like, prove yourself, you know what I mean, with an attitude that says I'm not gonna believe you no matter what. You know, doesn't matter. But what he I think what obedience asks us to do is to say, trust me, and I will confirm. And that's what we get the opportunity to do when we obey immediately. Yes. Yeah, yep, cool.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Oh, one time we have our kitten because of that. I obeyed immediately. I went to volunteer for my friend's boutique and she needed help, and I said, Okay, I'll do it. And I felt like, yeah, that's the right thing to do right now. So I did that, and then Cody found a kitten on the side of the highway um that day. And it was like, oh my gosh, her ministry, her boutique is a ministry, and they she donates all proceeds to veterans, and it's you know, she's she believes in God, and so it's like helping that, and then God's like, here's a kitten. And she would have been talking about money. I've literally every time I've made like a dream board or anything like that is always had a kitten on it, every single one. Now we have a kitten because I obeyed immediately, and it's not that like obeying immediately like gets you a kitten, you know?

SPEAKER_01

But yeah, no, but it's it's a uh like fun demonstration of God's grace, right?

SPEAKER_02

Yes, yeah. And that he listens to us, he pays attention to us, he knows what I wanted.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Because I've like talked to him about it and put it out there.

SPEAKER_01

And yeah, yeah, so cool. I love it. Well, so is there anything else along these lines that you feel like uh like that would be encouraging to our listeners? I think you know, we talked about the fact that our brains actually, science proofs that they uh are malleable, that we we our minds and thoughts have the ability to change them actually. Yeah. We talked about partnering with God and how that like takes what we can do and does God does amazing things with it, right?

SPEAKER_00

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01

I think that whenever like any of the good self-help stuff that you get into, like I'm a goal setter. I like have morphed into an achiever over time. And all of the all of the best like self-help books instruct us when we're setting goals to set really, really clear intention. And so I think that's what I would end on. I think that all of this is is an opportunity for exploration if you're new to it. And if you're not new to it, you already know, like you, you trust God, you know Jesus. And maybe you're exploring the Bible for the first time. Maybe you're you're you've read the Bible, you know, through multiple times, hundreds of times even. I think um the benefit to setting intention is a beneficial to anybody, no matter where you're at. And that is uh to decide that you're gonna check this out. I think it is to decide that this is important enough to carve out time, to make it a priority. I think that um that just like trying to figure out what you want the outcome of the situation to be is important. Like I wanna, I want to discover the truth of God. I want to, I want like I'm asking God to confirm for me something. I'm asking him to reveal something to me, you know, but I I want him to walk with me in this process. Yeah. Asking him to do that with you. And then setting side aside the time to actually do it. And I mean, be intentional, like commit to it. Um, and then let God reveal himself to you because he will. Like I'm convinced he will. Oh yeah. And I know for sure. Yeah. So cool. All right. Well, thanks for jumping in with me, Rachel. Um, and I'd love if um anybody who's watching this has uh set intention and they've got a goal that they're shooting for, if they'd post it. I'd love if they've got a question about the Bible and they're interested um to share it in the comments. Next week, we're going to get into um some specif specifics about the Bible. So, like if you've got questions about like the Bible and uh like how it was put together or the making of it or, you know, whatever kind of questions that you might have about that topic, the Bible as a document, as as you know, what it is, um, drop them in the comments and maybe we'll talk about them next week. Cool. Yes, so good. Alrighty, guys, we'll see you next week.

SPEAKER_00

We hope you enjoyed this episode of Midweek Motivation. To make sure you don't miss any content in the future, please subscribe, share, and if you enjoyed this, give us a like and consider popping by a Westside service some weekend. You can find out more at Westside Community Church.com.