Dear Daughters,

How often do toxic thoughts appear in your mind?  Do they seem to pop up more than you like?  Are you sometimes appalled at what goes through your mind?  Yeah, me too.

Back in September, my friend Christine called and excitedly asked if I had heard about the 21-Day Brain Detox.  Blandly I replied, You mean a food detox?  I’ve read about many detoxifications of the body, have actually tried a few myself and was not particularly keen on another one. But she said, No, it’s a thought detox of the brain.

This made me a bit more interested, so Christine briefly outlined the Detox, suggested some YouTube videos to watch, was eager to know my opinion of the whole deal, then said good-bye.

So I watched a few videos.  Dr. Caroline Leaf is an amazing woman, a cognitive neuroscientist with a PhD in communication pathology, specializing in neuropsychology.  I could write a few more paragraphs with many long words about her studies, degrees, and work with thousands of people in her native country of South Africa and all over the world – but suffice it to say she has studied, done her homework well, and in turn has taught thousands to detox their brains.

The bottom line of her teaching is this: because God created our brain with neuroplasticity (the ability to change) it is a scientific fact that we can train our mind to think differently than it does now.

We have wired many thoughts into our brains during our lifetimes, some good thoughts, other thoughts which are dangerously toxic. And what has been wired in can be wired out.

Dr. Leaf teaches people how to destroy toxic thoughts and replace them with good healthy thoughts.  She is amazed at how Science has finally caught up with the Bible.

As Paul wrote many years ago in his letter to the Romans:

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…

Dr. Leaf, according to recent research, explains that the mind (our thoughts for which we are responsible) can actually change the way our brain (the grey matter) functions.

Anyway, I decided to sign up for the 21-Day Detox.  Dr. Leaf has a 2-3 minute coaching video for each day, plus online instructions and plenty of encouragement.  The first few days were quite exciting, having this newfound knowledge to clean up my thought life.  Then, as with any determination to change a lifestyle, things got a little harder. Thankfully our thoughts are not written in a little bubble above our heads as they are in cartoon strips. I am grateful we aren’t put into jail on the basis of what we think.

If we are honest I think we can agree we have all had thoughts like:

I’m so afraid and fearful about.…

I think I’d rather have him for a husband

I hate my body

If only….

I am such a loser

My life is so boring

I can never get it right

Nothing will ever change

God doesn’t really love me, I feel like He’s forgotten me

If I were God, I would have done things a lot differently

My life is such a waste

God doesn’t even hear me

I wish she (or he) were dead

I just want to die

It doesn’t matter how good we look on the outside, we all grapple with tenacious toxic thoughts.

Our minds are such an amazing part of our bodies, so complex, fearfully and wonderfully made.  And as you may have experienced, the mind is a battlefield, as Joyce Meyer so wisely states.  Every moment of every day we are deluged with thoughts from all around and within us.  Thoughts from events that happened today, yesterday, years and even decades ago.

Every murder, every affair begins with a fleeting toxic thought.  Some thoughts come from our Enemy, some from our own ungrateful hearts, others are suggested by people and the media around us.

I find it curious that researchers at Stanford are in the midst of performing multiple forensic analyses of  Stephen Haddock’s (the Las Vegas shooter) brain.  They are hoping to find a disease or tumor of some kind which would point to the reason why he killed 59 and injured over 500 concertgoers on October 1 last year.

Anyway, Dr. Leaf instructs her readers how to be still and deliberately listen to the thoughts that filter through our minds.  To  my surprise I had more toxic thoughts than I care to mention.  I truly thought I had dealt with disappointments and offenses from the past, but the Holy Spirit was quite gracious to show me I have not.

Dr. Leaf teaches and gives ideas of how to replace toxic thoughts with the Word of God.

When we are fearful:

For God did not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and of a sound mind.                 2 Timothy 1:7

The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid.  What can mere mortals do to me?  Psalm 118:6

When I am afraid I will trust in You… Psalm 56:3

When we think nothing will ever change:

Forget the former things, do not dwell on the past.  See, I am doing a new thing!  Now it springs up, do you not perceive it?  Isaiah 43:18-19

When we think we have been forgotten by God:

I am with you always, even to the end of the age.  Matthew 28:20

When we are anxious:

Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.  1 Peter 5:7

When we carry around guilt from sin of the past:

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  1 John 1:9

Because many of our toxic thoughts did not just arrive yesterday we cannot expect them to leave immediately and without a fight.  To be aware of and battle the toxic thoughts in our minds takes work – and this battle is not for the faint of heart.

Obviously, God thinks it’s possible to renew and change our minds; Dr. Leaf is simply agreeing with Him.  But she always encourages us to deal with only one toxic thought at a time because it would be too overwhelming to battle them all at once.

I have many more toxic thoughts than I had imagined, but the root of them all is that I struggle with the fact that God is good, that He loves me. That I can trust Him with everything that has happened in my life.  It’s the same lie Eve believed in the Garden.  Satan tempted her with the single thought – Is God really good? Did He really say?  Maybe you should make your own choices and do it your way…

To be sure, this 21-day detox is not simply behavior modification, but is getting at the root of our behavior – which is our sinful, toxic thoughts.  Five years ago, I read Joyce Meyer’s Battlefield of the Mind and this detox actually builds upon that book, yet in a more disciplined, intentional 15-minutes-a-day manner.

I am determined to win this battle for my mind, but after three months I perceive it will become a lifestyle for the rest of my days.  The battle is fierce, but the rewards are many – a mind that is free.

Love, Mom