I’m Diana Swillinger, and this is the Renew Your Mind podcast. Episode 84 Retrain Your Brain with Scripture.
DIANA: Hey. Hey, everybody. What is happening? You know what? I haven’t read a podcast review for a little while, so let’s do a review. I’ve told you I will share them, so I will. If you leave a review on Apple podcasts, I will read it here on, um, the podcast. So that’s fun. I would love for you to do that. And when you leave a review and follow or subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts, you make it easier for others to find the podcast and get the mind renewal tools and relief that they so desperately need so you can help that person go do that person who needs some relief and hope a favor and follow the podcast and leave a review. Um, also, if you follow, it’ll help make sure you don’t miss an episode. And you don’t want to miss an episode. We got some good ones coming up.
Okay, so the review I’m going to read today is coming from CP perspective. This person says, I just started listening to the Renew Your Mind podcast recently, and I have so many episodes to catch up on. I listen to one or two episodes a day. Great stuff. Diana presents information in an upbeat and encouraging way, and like many other listeners have said, her voice is so soothing. Every time I listen to the podcast, I am reminded how important it is to pay attention to what I’m thinking and to change my thoughts so that I’m not stuck in fear, irritability, and people pleasing. Thank you so much, CP perspective. I love hearing all that. Once again, I really think I need to go back to the Be that Friday night DJ presenting Love dedications. Oh, uh, my soothing voice would fit in really well there.
Okay. Anyway, on to today’s episode. Since starting my coaching business, I’ve said many times, you’ve probably heard it the women that follow me and work with me, it’s mostly women anyway. They are churchgoers. They read the Bible. They pray. They’re already doing things that grow their understanding of the Christian faith and who Jesus is, and they work on their relationship with him. So I have largely focused on practical tools that are not taught in church and are not obvious enough in the Bible, because, I mean, actually, everything I teach is in the Bible. I have seen it. I’ve come across it. I’m like, that’s just like my tool. Uh, but it’s not presented practically enough for most of us to see how to apply it. At least it wasn’t for me. I didn’t get it until I started finding and creating practical tools. So I teach things to help us put mind renewal into practice in practical ways. But it doesn’t mean we will ignore how this integrates with our faith. In fact, here we are, over 80 episodes in on this podcast, and I have yet to talk about the practicality of renewing our mind with Scripture. And so that’s what we’re going to talk about today. I have spent the last eleven years continually moving forward in my own mind renewal and emotional and spiritual growth. And I did a lot of it before I became a life coach and before I became an expert in using and creating coaching tools. And one of the main things that made it possible for me, one of the things I did over those eleven years all the time, is use scripture to create new neural pathways. I didn’t know that’s what I was doing, but it’s what I was doing. I mean, isn’t this what we’re told to do? Meditate on the word. And why, right? Practically speaking, what does meditating on the Word do? Let’s take a look.
Dictionary, please. Meditate. Some of the definitions in the dictionary of meditate are to focus on one’s thoughts, on something to reflect on, to ponder over, to project in the mind to engage in contemplation, to consider with intention. I mean, come on. Sounds a lot like what I’m teaching all the time. What we want to focus our thoughts on. Psalms One says, blessed are those who meditate on the Word day and night. It’s like Life Coaching 101. Manage your mind. And in this case, filling the mind with the right stuff, focusing on truth. So my challenge to you is to make contemplation of Scripture a regular part of your mind renewal practice. I mean, you might already be reading it a lot and all that, but you might not be purposely making contemplation of the scripture a regular part of your mind renewal practice and how you manage your thoughts on purpose.
That’s what I’m challenging you to do. This is the practice that I used to learn to love me. This is the practice I used to focus on the truth of God, day after day, night after night. I’m, um, not talking about memorization. I mean, you can memorize it. I’ve never been amazing at memorization. Maybe I could be if I really wanted to. But as a worship leader for over 20 years, I have yet to memorize a song all the way through. Not even ones that I’ve written. Uh, memorization might not be for me, though. I have memorized a few that I’ve read repeatedly over and over. Okay, but I’m not talking about that. You don’t have to memorize here, so don’t worry about that. But let’s be thinking about it on purpose. In ways that help us renew our mind. Scripture is truth. Scripture carries the ability to heal, meditating on. Scripture allows us to create new ways of thinking and create new neural pathways. Scripture in our brain is thoughts that lead to emotions. We can think a scripture on purpose as a thought, and then we get to feel the emotion that it creates. And you don’t have to wonder if your thought is true. It’s kind of truth proof. So I have a recommendation for you.
Try taking a verse that speaks to you and turn it into a, uh, truth about you for your life. And you can notice how it makes you feel and claim it for yourself and in your own brain and in your own thoughts and in your own language. Put it to work for you in your life. When you find one that you love, you can write it out. Um, you can write out the scripture either just as is, or you can write it as you’ve rewritten it in a way that speaks to your situation or your life, or do both. And then contemplate it, ponder it, think about it, meditate on it periodically over days, over weeks, over even months if if that’s what you need. Create new neuropathways with truth. This is so good. All right, example time. You ready? I have grabbed some scripture that are favorites of mine or ones that I have personally used for mind renewal or I’ve used with clients. So here we go. Ready? First the verse, and then I’m going to give you a rewrite on how you could say it for you. All right? John 14:27 I am leaving you with a gift peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give, so do not be troubled or afraid. Here is a rewrite of John 14:27 that I would say in my own brain as a thought that makes it feel like it’s about me and about my life.
Jesus gave me a gift peace of mind and peace in my heart. Regardless of what is going on in the world, I have his peace, and I don’t need to worry or be afraid. Emotions that come up for me from that verse are, uh, gratitude and confidence. Could be different for you, but that’s what came up for me. All right, here’s another verse one. Corinthians 14:33. For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace. my rewrite I don’t need to be confused. That isn’t from God. God gives me clarity and peace. The emotion that comes up for me is capable. Here’s another one. Romans 15:13 I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the holy Spirit. My rewrite. And you can rewrite these however you want, you guys, this is just what came to mind for me to rewrite it for me. When I trust God, he can help me feel joy and peace and confident hope. I’m learning to trust you. God. The emotion for me is hope or even anticipation. Okay, here’s another verse. Matthew 6:27. And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? My rewrite. Worrying isn’t helping. Lord, help me let go and not worry. And I don’t know if I’d totally feel peace. I think peace is what’s available to me if I believe what I’m saying. Worrying isn’t helping. When I believe God’s going to help me further when I say, Lord, help me let go and worry, maybe I feel a little hope. Maybe I feel a little peace.
Okay, next verse. Isaiah uh, 55:9. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. My rewrite. God, I don’t understand what you’re doing, but I choose to trust you in that my emotion is a big one for me. I love to feel secure. That one helps me feel secure. God, I don’t understand what you’re doing, but I choose to trust you. You will work this out for good. I feel secure. All right, couple more. Two more. Next one is one Peter five seven. Cast all your anxiety on Him because he cares for you. A possible rewrite. I can trust God. He cares about me more than I can imagine. I mean, he’s letting me cast all my anxiety on him. Think about that. Like a wheelbarrow full of anxiety. And he’s letting me cast it all on Him because he cares for me. You know what I feel? Loved and valuable. Uh, that’s a good one. Okay, uh, one more. The verse that took me through some very difficult times when I battled anxiety and I was kind of in a relationship. Hell, it was a staple for me during that time and it still is, and I think it will be until the day I die. I’m going to first give you the amplified version because I needed this verse amplified, you know what I mean? Okay.
And you can use the Bible app. It’s called you version if you have a phone or a tablet and you can go through all different translations of the Bible. So helpful. I needed the amplified one for this because I’m like, I want it big. Send it home, God. So this is Isaiah 26 three. In the amplified version, you will keep in perfect and constant peace the one whose mind is steadfast, that is committed and focused on you in both inclination and character because he trusts and takes refuge in you with hope and confident expectation. I know that was a lot. So here’s a simpler translation of that verse. Rewind it. If you want to listen to the amplified again, you might want to listen to it a couple of times. A simpler translation of Isaiah 26 three is those with sound thoughts, you will keep in peace because they trust in you. And for me, the way I thought of that, the way that verse plays in my mind and is my thought is I will focus on you, God, and I trust you to make peace a, uh, reality in my life. I know you can do it, and I feel empowered. The more you purposely think thoughts that are scripture or aligned with scripture or are new purposeful thoughts based on it, you are bringing life and health to your mind and to your emotional being. You can even choose scripture based thoughts for new thoughts. When you’re working with the Mind Shift Tool that you’ve heard me talk about so much. And if you’ve come to any of my events, you probably have a printable copy of the Mind Shift Tool.
When you come to a new thought, if you have a scripture that would be a good replacement thought, take that scripture and put it in there, or do a rewrite and put it in there and come up with the new way you get to think and feel in any situation. Whatever garbage thought you have now, you can replace it with truth. A truth that is about God’s love, about God’s gifts, about his peace, his joy, his promises. And I would love I’m really excited about this episode. I m don’t know, do I sound emotional on every episode? I really care about you guys, every single one of you that’s listening. And I pray for you. And I hope you take this to heart. And I hope that you put this in practice. I really do.
And I would love to hear how you put this into practice in your life. What will you do with the scriptures? Do you have a favorite scripture? Do you want to rewrite it for yourself? Please send me a message on social media or email me and let me know how you put this into practice. If you want to email me, you just have to know how to spell my name. It’s Diana@dianaswillinger.com. I would love to hear what verse you picked and how you think about it in your own head and how that changes how you feel. Can’t wait to hear from you. All right, y’all, that’s it for today, so I will catch you next week. Until then, take care you.
As an advanced certified Life coach, I help Christian women trying to live their best lives, but they still feel unsatisfied and stuck. I teach thought management skills that work so you can enjoy life again and step into who God has created you to be. Don’t forget to head on over to Rympodcast.com to get my free resources or a free coaching call.
