What’s Your New Year’s Resolution?

I’m a little embarrassed to admit it, but my New Year’s resolutions rarely change. Most years I tell myself I’ll eat healthier, read my Bible in a year, and stay on top of ministry goals. All good things. But they just skim the surface.

This year, I want to go deeper.

This year I want to be intentional about putting into practice some important biblical truths: taking ruminating thoughts captive, throwing off what hinders, and forgetting the former things by not dwelling in the past (2 Corinthians 10:5; Philippians 3:13-14; Isaiah 43:18-19). Because you really cannot move forward if your mind is constantly looking backward and ruminating on the past.

And interestingly, after a little digging of my own, I learned that neuroscience actually agrees.

When the Mind Replays the Past

When we continually rehearse old hurts or past trauma, our brain’s alarm center, the amygdala, stays activated. That ongoing stress keeps cortisol elevated, which fuels fear and anxiety. But research also shows that when we deliberately shift our attention or reframe our thoughts, the part of the brain that thinks and plans begins to quiet the “emotional alarm system” and helps us regulate our feelings more effectively.

As trauma researcher Bessel van der Kolk explains in his book, The Body Keeps the Score: Brain Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, the body often continues to respond as if the threat is still present, even when the danger has long passed. The nervous system becomes primed for survival. The muscles tighten, the heart races, and the brain remains on high alert, because the body “remembers” what happened, not just the mind.

In other words: what we repeatedly think, we literally wire into the brain and we physically suffer.

But the good news is this: God never leaves us stuck there. The same brain that learned to live in survival mode can, over time, learn new ways of responding. When we interrupt that loop by reframing our thoughts, taking them captive, choosing truth over fear or talking it through with a trusted counselor or friend, the part of the brain that helps us think clearly and make wise choices begins to settle the alarm system. Over time, our minds form healthier pathways. This is part of the renewing work Scripture points to where God patiently transforms our thinking so we can press forward instead of staying bound to a painful past.

God Designed the Brain for Renewal

Here’s the hopeful truth: God created our brains with the ability to change.

Scientists call it neuroplasticity, the brain’s built-in capacity to reorganize, rewire, form new connections, and strengthen healthier pathways over time. That means we’re not doomed to think the same thoughts, react the same way, or stay stuck in old, destructive emotional patterns forever.

When we repeatedly dwell on fear, shame, or hurt, the brain “practices” those responses and they become our default response. But when we interrupt those loops by speaking truth, reframing what happened, practicing forgiveness and gratitude, praying, journaling, counseling, or being surrounded by Christian community, the brain slowly builds new pathways toward peace and clarity.

In other words, the same brain that once rehearsed worry, ruminated on false realities, or was stuck in past trauma, can now take those thoughts captive and be renewed by the transforming power of the Holy Spirit.

This is exactly what Scripture has taught all along:

“Take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).
“Be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2).
“Be renewed in the spirit of your mind.” (Ephesians 4:23).
“You keep in perfect peace those whose minds are stayed on You.” (Isaiah 26:3).

God never commands what He doesn’t also empower. He didn’t simply tell us to “think differently,” He designed the brain so that renewed thinking becomes instinctive over time. And when we release the past into His hands, our thoughts begin to align with His truth. Our reactions begin to grow calmer and more grounded with less and less triggering. Peace becomes more familiar. Hope becomes more accessible. And slowly, the inner landscape shifts.

That’s not positive thinking.

That’s spiritual formation supported by God-designed biology.

Join me in making deeper resolutions this year as we leave behind what belongs in the past, trust God’s promises to transform our minds with His truth and love, and walk fearlessly in who He has called us to be.

Here’s to pressing on in 2026, trusting God to renew us, restore us, and lead us forward!