One word I’ve heard often in the last few years is “triggered.” That wasn’t a common word in the first four decades of my life. But recently, it seems like everyone—and their best friend—is “triggered” by the slightest provocation.

It could be a word or comment that sets them off. Or it’s the crazy traffic, an unhelpful salesperson, an annoyingly long checkout line, an Instagram post, or even the way someone chews their food.

Perhaps, you’re thinking, “Actually, it’s all of the above.” Well, you wouldn’t be alone. I have my own “Treasury of Triggers.”

I’m not talking about my “pet peeves” or “things that annoy me.” I’m referring to the list of things that make me lash out—like when a shotgun is fired and emotional bullets are let loose.

(Word to the wise: Do not—I repeat, do not—stand in the way when those bullets come whizzing by.)

But jokes apart, the Bible tells us we don’t have to be triggered by our triggers.

(Yeah, I might be paraphrasing here.)

But here’s the phrase that’s been churning in my head: “…Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Romans 12:2)

The renewing of our minds.

The revamping of our thoughts.

The rewiring of our brains.

God invites us to be transformed from the inside out. That often starts with our hearts and our minds.

Funnily, it appears that science is finally catching up with the Bible.

From listening to several podcasts and YouTube videos from behavioral scientists and thought-leaders like Andrew Huberman and Caroline Leaf, here’s what I’ve gleaned: our brains are bendy. They are malleable. The experts call it Neuroplasticity.

Just as we practice flexibility routines for our bodies, we can stretch our brains. We can form new neural pathways so that old triggers no longer spark former patterns of thought and action.

When my sister, a therapist in California, visited us last year, she explained Cognitive Behavior Therapy or CBT to our enthusiastic parents and me.

Essentially, she helped us identify a negative thought, challenge it, and then replace it with a positive (yet rooted in reality) thought.

We are called to renew our minds. And the best way I know how is by filling it with truth of the Word of God.

Friend, when a negative, untrue thought pops into your head, can you first ask God to take that thought captive? And can you then challenge the thought by holding it up to the exacting but important standards of Philippians 4:8: Is it true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, praiseworthy? If it’s in the “None of the above” category, then kick it to the curb. It doesn’t belong in that beautiful brain God has given you.

Let me give you an example.

As a mom of teens, one of my triggers is the dreaded but all-too-common “eye roll.”

If I sense that one of my kids has rolled their eyes at me (yes, I possess an innate mom-sense where I see it even when my back is turned to them), my default disposition is to Lose. The. Plot. My first thought when triggered is: “How can they disrespect me?” And then comes the downward spiral: sharp words, unnecessary threats, asserting my position with unhinged authoritarianism. Let’s just say, it ain’t pretty.

But God gives us the choice—and the power—to renew our minds. In that moment, I can pause, identify the thought, examine its validity against the plumbline of God’s Word, and speak truth to it.

I can choose to understand, for instance, that the eyeroll likely came from a tough day at school, compounded by more demands at home. It wasn’t insolence. It was merely exhaustion. That creates a compassionate response in me.

Instead of the automatic pattern of:

Trigger —>Entertain Untrue thought —-> Me-Centered Response

I can choose:

Trigger —-> Challenge Untrue Thought —-> Replace with truth —-> Gospel-shaped Response

I know you’re thinking: easier said than done. You would be right. It requires daily wrestling. Daily yielding. Daily carrying your cross. Daily following after Jesus.

The One who created our inmost beings—and our brains—can reorder our thinking.

Can we participate with God in the process of sanctifying our minds?

Can we ask God to create new neural pathways for our thoughts?

Can we pray for us—fallen, messy, and self-involved as we are—to have the mind of Christ?

We don’t have to resort to a “default “mode of thinking and action. Instead, we can invite His Spirit to disrupt the default so we’re not stuck in the same loop. May we choose truth over triggers so we are ultimately transformed.

May we remember that He redeems our minds, just as He does our hearts.

 

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