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Romans 12:2 - "Therefore be transformed by the renewing of your mind."

The Lord once told me,

People want me in their life for salvation and blessing, but they don't want Me in their life for change. They resist change and growth.

Q1: Why would most people resist change and growth? I'm of the opinion that most of our evil lies hidden in our nonconscious mind, unavailable to inspection by our conscious mind. That's why we think that we're basically good (based on what our conscious mind sees), while God (who sees it all) says that we're so incurably evil (Jer 17:9) that Jesus had to die for us. When there is a difference of opinion between what we think and what God thinks, who do you think is right? And after being saved, God's Word says that we must transform our minds.

Q2: Which of the following two entries best describes your view of yourself? Be honest!

Majority Opinion: I'm basically a good person, needing only a minor tune-up here and there.
Minority Opinion : I'm someone who, apart from Holy Spirit, is blind to how sinful I actually am."

Rom 12:2 is not a suggestion; it's a command. We are not supposed to stagger through life like a drunken sailor, allowing our thoughts and feelings to run wild. We are supposed to transform and renew our minds to be in alignment with God's ways. Training our rebel mind to conform to God's ways is like "breaking" a wild horse to be gentle and useful. In particular, breaking a wild horse isn't a matter of brute strength. If it were then the horse would win every time; its' a lot stronger than you are! Breaking a horse is a matter of skill and strategy. The same is true when it comes to transforming and renewing our minds.

The following summarizes what neuroscience has learned about "rewiring" your nonconscious brain.

Mere intellectual assent to change by the conscious part of your brain (e.g. a New Year's resolution) may give the short-lived illusion of change. But it doesn't last long because it's only behavior modification. In order to be effective and long-lasting, change has to occur in the nonconscious part of your brain - because that is where the true you (what the Bible calls "the heart") resides.

Unfortunately, the "default setting" of the nonconscious brain is to resist change - the very thing you are trying to accomplish!

WARNING! The nonconscious part of your brain does not work in the same way as the conscious part of your brain. In particular, it does not respond well to the traditional "front door" approach that relies on logic and reason. The nonconscious part of your brain responds best to a "back door" approach that relies on repetition accompanied by emotion.

Good News - Therapists have developed new strategies and skills (the "back door approach") that are "tuned" to the way and also to the pace at which the nonconscious brain is able to assimilate change. These make change easier and more likely to be permanent

Expectation Management - Expressions such as "rewiring" or "reprogramming" your brain give the misleading expectation that change should be a "quick fix," like re-routing a wire or changing a few lines of computer code. But the truth is that permanent long-term change is not a "quick-fix." It takes considerable time. The next few pages will introduce you to the basics.