Renewing Your Mind: When Faith and Neuroscience Meet (and Why It’s Time to Get Curious)
If you’ve ever felt leery about mindset work, neuroscience, or even energy techniques - listen, I get it..
For many Christians, these ideas can sound too ‘new age’ or ‘woo-woo’. But what if much of what science is uncovering today actually confirms what the Bible has said for centuries?
This isn’t about replacing faith with science. It’s about being open, curious, and confident enough to see where God and neuroscience beautifully align.
So my Rebel, if you’re ready to stretch your comfort zone, here’s your invitation to see your mind as the holy, powerful space God designed it to be.
The Rebel Truth: Your Mind is Holy Ground
First off, transformation doesn’t start in your circumstances: It starts in your thinking.
Scripture makes this clear:
Romans 12:2 - “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
2 Corinthians 10:5 - “We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
Philippians 4:8 - “Whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely… think about such things.”
God isn’t asking you to suppress your thoughts or fake positivity.
He’s inviting you into deep partnership. To let Him renew your mindset from the inside out.
Consider this: Renewal is rebellion - a holy rebellion - against fear, conformity, and self-doubt and subconscious work is the answer to prayer to overcome the thought patterns that are holding you back - once and for all.
But don’t just take my word for it. Let’s go deep:
Faith and Neuroscience: How They Work Together
Let’s talk about the part that makes many believers uneasy - neuroscience.
Here’s the truth: neuroscience isn’t anti-God. It’s the study of the brain God created. And when science finally catches up to what scripture has been saying all along, it should make us marvel at His brilliance - not fear it.
For example, let’s look at how the two connect:
Neuroplasticity – this is defined as the brain’s ability to change, reorganize, and adapt by forming new neural connections (aka thought patterns) in response to experiences. Bottom line: the brain rewires itself through intentional repetition and focus.
→ “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Romans 12:2)Reticular Activating System (RAS) – defined as a network of neurons in the brainstem that develops a filter over time to what it will allow in. Bottom line: Your brain focuses on what you dwell on or pay attention to - over & over.
→ “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” (Proverbs 23:7)Emotion Regulation – this is the process of managing one’s own feelings and behaviors in response to triggers you experience. Bottom line: the more you are able to maintain peach and calm, even when triggered, the more you are able to receive truth.
→ “Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)
Faith and neuroscience aren’t at odds - they’re actually two sides of the same divine design.
Mindset Tools That Align With Biblical Truth
Let’s bridge faith and science with a few modern tools that we use in subconscious reprogramming and how they actually echo Biblical principles.
✨ NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) - This is all about how your language shapes your mind. When you catch a limiting thought and replace it with truth - that’s NLP through a spiritual lens and it actually reframes limiting thoughts into faith-based truth. For example, take a negative thought such as ‘I am not worthy’ (which your subconscious will continually reinforce because it cannot process things in the negative) and change it to ‘I am a work in progress. I am learning and growing everyday.’ Changing this language of your thought pattern rewires your subconscious to act from a place of growth vs. lack.
→ The Bible says, “Take every thought captive.” (2 Corinthians 10:5)
✨ Hypnosis (Focused Relaxed State) - now, I get there is a lot of stigma around hypnosis as it’s often associated with ‘brainwashing’. Yet, here is the truth: the job of your subconscious is always to keep you safe. It only takes in information that aligns with your values. You are in full control. The hypnosis used in subconscious reprogramming is simply a focused, relaxed state where your subconscious is open to suggestion; kind of like deep meditation. This relaxed state opens up the door between your conscious and subconscious mind, enabling the process of neuroplasticity: essentially forging new neuropathways (aka thought patterns) in your mind. Bottom line: hypnosis enables you to focus deeply on truth, and as a result, you’re literally reprogramming your subconscious mind.
→ The Bible says, “Meditate on the Word day and night.” (Joshua 1:8)
✨ Time Techniques (Revisiting Old Belief Patterns) - this isn’t about time travel or metaphysical experiences. It’s a technique to help you revisit an experience from the past, one that carries a strong emotional charge that holds you back in the present day, and helps to reframe the past experience with new meaning. When you forgive, let go, and choose a new perspective, you are releasing your past at both a spiritual and neurological level. Bottom line: this helps release old emotional pain so you can move forward.
→ Philippians 3:13 says, “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.”
✨ EFT (Tapping) - simply put, EFT or “tapping,” is a somatic method where you tap on acupressure points of your body to process through any strong emotions you are experiencing, while speaking truth to calm your nervous system. It uses gentle tapping and affirmations to calm the body and realign with truth. This helps to create a mind/body connection and can be likened to the concept of ‘laying hands’ a form of healing touch with prayer.
→ Scripture tells us “to keep words of truth in our hearts as it’s key to life and health.” (Proverbs 4:20-22)
Bottom line: these tools are just tools - it’s about how you use them; approaching them through the lens of faith. They’re simply methods of cooperation with how God designed your brain and nervous system.
Practice: Daily Mind Renewal Routine
So let’s try out a simple 3-step routine to renew your mind daily as an introduction to this work in partnership with God:
🌅 Morning: Anchor in Truth
First thing in the morning, while in your quiet time, take a moment to breathe deeply and speak this aloud and picture what this looks like in action throughout your day:
“I have the mind of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 2:16)
🌞 Midday: Take Thoughts Captive
Some time around lunch, take a moment to retrace your thought patterns of the day so far and begin to take notice of any fear-based or negative thought. Ask yourself (or journal):
“Is this thought in agreement with God’s truth?”
Then reframe the thought to be more affirming of the truth: “I am equipped for every good work.” ‘I am divinely created.’ ‘I am the salt of the earth.’
🌙 Evening: Restore Peace
As you settle in for the evening, take a moment to reflect on your day and release what’s heavy. Replace those heavy thoughts with the below scripture:
“Lord, I receive Your peace that surpasses understanding.” (Philippians 4:7)
🔥 The Rebel Invitation: Step Beyond Comfort
As I’ve been incorporating these practices into my life, I have found so much comfort and alignment to the truest form of myself that God created me to be. It’s from this place, that Rebel Style was born. For me, the concept of being a rebel is to show up in a way that is 100% fully ME. Not what others expect. Not what I think will be expected. No longer altering any part of myself to fit in - but genuinely and fully the ME that God not only created, but created in HIS image. That includes the parts of myself that I may not have fully allowed to come to the surface in the past. That I thought may have been judged or rejected.
Being a rebel is someone who refuses to stay small or stagnant - mentally, emotionally, or spiritually. It involves asking hard questions, exploring with discernment, and letting curiosity (even when it’s uncomfortable) draw you closer to God. I’ll be honest, this process is not easy. It’s hard to face parts of yourself or of your past that bring up uncomfortable or yucky feelings. Yet honestly - the growth I’ve experienced this past year far surpasses anything else I’ve done (and I’ve done A LOT of work in the personal growth space!) When I set out to do this work, God gave me the inner peace to fully pursue this in a way that aligns with Him. He has given me the discernment necessary and has been in this with me the entire time. He has never left me — even when I explored my anger towards Him for some things I was experiencing. He is never surprised by our emotions. He created them! I am still a work in progress (aren’t we all) yet He has been with us every step of the way and through it all.
I’ll leave you with this… You don’t have to fear neuroscience, mindset work, or inner transformation. Just stay rooted in Him. Ask Him to give you the peace and to help you to expand your understanding of how wonderfully you were made. In His image.