Cultivating a Renewed Mind

Do you ever have so many thoughts swirling around in your head that you can’t process them all?

Recently, I spent the evening on my laptop, jumping from one internet article to the next. So many choices. So many voices. How could I select the best and bypass the rest?

I went to bed feeling like my brain was a tangled mixture of random thoughts.

Just as overeating causes bodily distress, information overload brings about mental stress.. The internet is a veritable mansion of facts and opinions, where room after room offers a buffet of ideas, all there for the taking. As I sampled items from the smorgasbord of articles, blog posts, and teachings, I found inspiring quotes and useful knowledge. But I was consuming more than I could digest at once.

I know I’m not the only one feeling overwhelmed by too much information.

In 2011, Nicholas Carr published a book called The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains. The book catalogs the ways the internet has rewired our brains so that we have difficulty focusing. With so much information available at the touch of a screen, we suffer from information overload. We no longer have time for quiet reflection. We multitask and have a shallow understanding of many subjects.

“What the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation. Whether I’m online or not, my mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles. Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski.”

True, there are advantages to having facts at our fingertips. Yet just as we make choices concerning the foods we put on our plates, we can become selective about the things we allow to enter our brains.

Scripture tells us, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Rom. 12:2-3 ESV)

The Greek word for “conformed” is syschematizon (as in “schematic”). As Christians, we are not to pattern our lives after everyone else’s. Sometimes we have to be non-conformists.

The word translated as “world,” aion, refers to the present age.  Being a Christian means we don’t always keep in step with the times.

 

Like butterflies, we’re to be transformed (metamorphoo, as in “metamorphosis”). This word is also used in 2 Cor. 3:18 and reminds us transformation is the Holy Spirit’s work. As we behold God’s glory, he changes us and makes us more like Jesus:

“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”

And the “renewing”, the anakainosis, is the Holy Spirit’s work, too.  The apostle Paul uses the same word, anakainosis, in Titus 3:5:

“He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.”

 

God is at work shaping our lives into something beautiful. We cooperate with the process by carefully considering what we allow to enter our minds.

• Is it beneficial?
• Is it pleasing to God?
• Will it promote growth?
• Is it what God wants for us now?

In her book Waymaker: Finding the Way to the Life You’ve Always Dreamed of, Ann Voskamp outlines spiritual practices to draw us closer to God. She says our habits reveal what’s in our hearts:

“The habit of turning to Facebook before opening the Word and facing His face, of being more consumed by the news than the Good News, of turning to Hollywood’s stories to understand our own holy story, instead of staying in His Story—and we’re wearing our real love on our sleeves.”

As I evaluated my habits, God showed me some changes that would promote a transformed, renewed mind. The actions steps include:

1. Beginning my morning with Scripture and reading the Bible in book form rather than reading the Bible online. It’s wonderful to read the Bible online in various versions and to have commentaries readily available. But for my time with God in the morning, I need to eliminate the distracting temptations I encounter online.
2. Avoiding inflammatory, angry articles and posts. It’s better to focus instead on informative, Christ-affirming words.
3. Avoiding online shopping unless I’m looking to purchase something specific. Online “window shopping” is like junk food for the mind. I fill my brain with pretty images of items for sale, but they add very little value to my life.
4. Limiting the time I allow each day for checking social media. Social media lets me connect with people I don’t see in person, but if I’m not careful, I can easily waste hours scrolling through my feed.
5. Being selective about the good things I read. I can only digest so much at one time. When I read a blog post or do an online Bible study, I need to allow time to absorb the message.
6. 6. Being fully present with the people in my life. When I spend in-person time with someone, I don’t need to check social media or play on my phone.

As we ask God for discernment, let’s remember renewal is the Holy Spirit’s work. We don’t need to beat ourselves up if, despite our good intentions, we occasionally binge on internet fluff. As we cooperate with him, God continues his work in our lives.

Each day provides new opportunities for streamlining our intake of information, making wise choices, and becoming transformed into people who are a little more like Jesus.

 

Margaret Kemp spends most days teaching a classroom full of lively five-and six-year-olds. She’s attracted to be fragrance of vanilla, the printed word, and all things blue and white. She delights in spending time with her husband and family, singing praises with her church choir peeps, and traveling. Her heart’s desire is to know God better and learn to trust him more. You can read more of her writing at MargaretKemp.com.

Photograph © Women of Color in Tech, used with permission