Joel Osteen - Rewiring Your Mind
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I want to talk to you today about Rewiring Your Mind. For years, scientists believed that once we reached adulthood, the brain was fully formed and couldn’t be changed; that there was no new growth or reshaping. However, in the last few decades, they’ve discovered that the brain is constantly changing; that it’s not set in stone, but it’s more like plastic that can be molded and reshaped. Every time you think a thought, it’s creating a neural pathway, like a roadway in your mind. The more you think a thought, the easier it is to think it again because the road is already established. Repetitive thoughts are making that path wider and deeper. It’s not just mental; while you’re developing a habit, something is happening in your brain. These neurons are creating pathways that accommodate what you’re telling them.
When that path becomes so established, it’s like you’re on autopilot; you just follow that path. Have you ever been driving home from work and started daydreaming? Five minutes later, you think, «Man, I wasn’t even paying attention to the road.» Well, you’ve driven that path for years, and those neurons have built a highway in your mind. Now they can take over without all the mental energy; it just naturally kicks in because of what the repetitive thoughts have established. This is what Proverbs says: «As a person thinks, so he will become.» The good news is you get to choose which pathways your brain is going to establish.
Well, Joel, nothing good ever happens to me; I always have bad breaks. I don’t think I’ll ever get out of this problem. Just imagine a big bulldozer starting to clear out that path. The foreman says to his crew, «We just got an order from the command center: start building an 'I can’t do it' highway, a 'not going to make it' pathway, and a 'never going to work out' roadway.» Every time you think it, those neurons go to work. It’s not just your thoughts; in your brain, cells are creating what you’re telling them to make it easier to think the next time. Over time, it’s just who we are.
Here’s the key: you can rewire your brain. Some of us have all these negative highways: «not good enough, » «guilt, » «I can’t forgive, » «I’m not disciplined.» We’ve been thinking this way for years. No, it’s not just a road; we’ve got a four-lane highway with the best lights, pavement, and a speed limit of 80 miles an hour. The next time you’re tempted to think those thoughts, recognize what’s happening: you’re building something you don’t want. Yes, it’s going to be easy to think them because the highway you’ve built is so big. Now it’s going to facilitate what you’ve been thinking. You have to put your foot down and say, «No thanks! I am not going to use my mental energy to build roads that are going to work against me.»
The best thing you can do is put up some road closure signs. When that thought comes, «Nothing good is in my future, » say, «Sorry, that road is closed. I don’t need that path anymore.» Build a new highway. Father, thank you that my path is getting brighter and brighter, that you’re taking me from victory to victory. I can see that foreman thinking, «What in the world is happening?» He tells his workers, «Come off the 'can’t do it' highway; no more construction on the 'always be addicted' roadway. Start building the 'something good is going to happen' freeway.» It’s not just about being positive; it’s not just quoting God’s word, which is all good, but in your brain, neurons are firing, and cells are working to create pathways for what you’re repeatedly thinking.
My father taught me when I was a little boy that when I got up every morning, I should say, «Something good is going to happen to me today.» I’ve been saying that for all 39 years that I’ve been alive. Every morning, Victoria will tell you, «This is going to be a great day!» Lord, thank you for waking me up this morning; something good is going to happen to me. I don’t even have to think about it anymore; it’s just autopilot. It’s going to be a great day. I’m expecting God’s goodness. God, let me be a blessing to somebody else. I know we all have different personalities. I’m naturally positive and upbeat; I’ve been this way my whole life. A pastor friend of mine told me that he’s so negative, he can take a positive sermon and preach it in a negative way. Some of it may be natural temperament, but that can be overridden by how you choose to think.
A man I know was always so down on himself, often expecting the worst. He said, «That’s just who I am.» He started listening to our messages on Sirius XM, and a couple of years later, he said, «Joel, people don’t recognize me anymore.» They asked, «What happened to you?» He became the most positive, grateful, and joyful person you could meet. There wasn’t anything wrong with him; he had just spent years building the wrong highways, creating all these negative paths and discouraging words. As you think, so you will become; you are telling your brain how to function. These repetitive thoughts are giving the assignment—your thinking is the command center. Like this man, you may have created something you don’t want. You don’t have to stay that way. You can rewire your brain; you can create new neural pathways that will work for you rather than against you.
Some people have built highways for guilt, shame, and unworthiness, focusing on their mistakes and reliving failures, believing the lies that they are all washed up. The battle is taking place in our minds. One reason the enemy works so hard in this area is that he knows your life is going to follow your thoughts. He’d love for you to wire your brain for guilt, feelings of inadequacy, and the belief that you’re not good enough. You’ve got to close those roads off. You have to put up some detours and no longer have signs that say «Quit spending your energy building roads that work against you.» The more you think it, the deeper the road, and the easier it is to go down the next time. It’s a self-destructive cycle. You wake up in the morning thinking, «Man, I don’t want to go to work; traffic’s so bad, and these people get on my nerves.»
Just imagine all those neurons building highways to just what you said. You gave the command. When you’ve been doing that for 5 years, 10 years, or 30 years, your highway stretches from here to Botswana; you could drive a house down that thing. No wonder when we get up, those thoughts come the easiest—you’ve paved the beautiful road. Change what you’re building; that’s not who you are. The enemy has hijacked your crew; he’s deceived you into believing his lies.
Now, your own thoughts are working against you; it’s time to do some rewiring and some road closures. No more giving life to the negative. It’s going to take discipline because when we’ve been thinking one way for a long time, you will want to revert to old habits, like driving on autopilot; you don’t have to think about it. You’re used to feeling guilty, inferior, or thinking you can’t break the addiction or never get out of debt. Those are learned behaviors. You’re going to have to dig down deep and take control of what you think. You get to choose what you dwell on.
When the same negative thoughts come, you’ll be tempted to get on that highway—it’s already built; it’s what you’re used to. No! Don’t give those thoughts permission to stay. They may come, but you don’t have to dwell on them. If you dismiss it, the thought dies; it won’t have any power. It’s repetitive thoughts that build the highways. When we’re constantly thinking, «It’s going to be a great day; I’m blessed; I’m strong; I’m healthy; I have the favor of God, » think of the roads that’s building in our brain. Think about how that’s impacting our future and our self-image and confidence versus «I’m unworthy; I’ve made too many mistakes; I can’t get a good break; everyone in my family struggles.» Your thinking is the command center; you are giving orders to your neurons on how your brain functions and creating the roadways to become what you think.
Paul said in Philippians, «I have learned how to be content.» He didn’t say, «I was born this way; this is my natural personality; that’s why I’m content.» He said, «I had to learn this. I had to be disciplined in what I think; I had to guard my mind.» Some of us have learned to be discouraged, learned to be insecure, and learned to expect the worst. These are pathways we’ve unknowingly helped pave in our brains to facilitate how we think. If we get upset in traffic every morning, our command center tells those neurons, «Build a highway.»
We get upset every time it happens, making it easy. When a relative says something we don’t like, we get offended, and it ruins our day. Those neurons go to work; we need to wire our brains to ensure we aren’t easily offended. Recognize what’s happening: if you can learn to be offended, learn to be discouraged, then you can learn to be happy. You can learn to stay in peace; you can learn to have faith. It all starts right here. Paul said it this way: «You can be transformed by the renewing of your mind.»
When you start thinking the right thoughts, it’s not only affecting you mentally, but your brain is creating new pathways—pathways that work for you, not against you. I was on my phone the other day, flipping through Instagram, and I usually click on the sports highlights and watch clips from ball games. But this video popped up of two men fighting in a grocery store. It was small on the phone, so I had to click it to make it bigger. It was so bizarre; in the middle of the store, they were throwing each other against the shelves, and cans of food were falling—cereal boxes going everywhere, rolling, punching, going crazy. I was just going to watch for 5 seconds, then 20 seconds went by, then a minute, and it went from bizarre to entertaining. I thought, «This is better than sports.» But finally, I moved on to something else.
A few seconds later, there was another clip of fighting, then another, then another. Before long, 90% of my feed was fights. I’ve never seen so many crazy people. You know what happened? The algorithm kicked in. All this data and calculations identified me as a person who likes fights, so they fed me more of what I’d been watching. It’s the same principle in our thoughts; you’re going to get more of what you’ve been thinking because that pathway has been developed. You’ve told those neurons to build this highway, so it’s going to be easier to think that way; it’s going to create habits. If you get up in the morning and think, «Something good is going to happen to me; Lord, I thank you that it’s going to be a great day, » you’re going to see more good things.
That algorithm, so to speak, is going to kick in. You’re going to enjoy your children; you’re going to thank God for your job; you’re going to stay in peace under pressure. You’re getting more of what you clicked on, and just the opposite: if you live worried and stressed over your job, upset at your neighbor, and afraid your child will go off course, you’ve created pathways to make all the negative easier. Like that algorithm, you’re going to have plenty of reasons to worry. You need to put up some road closures; no more clicking on the worry, the fear, the what-ifs. Here’s how you create some better highways: get on that algorithm of favor.
«Father, thank you that I’m in the palm of your hand. Thank you that your plans for me are for good and that you’re fighting my battles. Lord, I don’t see a way, but I know that you have a way.» That’s creating pathways of peace, pathways of trust, where you can enjoy each day. You have to take control of your thought life; if not, the enemy is going to have a heyday using that negative algorithm to bring more of what you don’t want. The scripture says to meditate on God’s word day and night. Meditate means to think about the same thing over and over. It’s not passive, like traditional meditation, where I’m going to sit here and think about nothing. Silent scriptural meditation means continually thinking about what God says about you.
Well, God says you’re a masterpiece, fearfully and wonderfully made. When you meditate on that all through the day, in your thinking, «I’m valuable; I’m a masterpiece; I’m crowned with favor; I have seeds of greatness; the DNA of Almighty God, » think about what your neurons are doing. Think about how your brain is being wired and how it’s programmed to function. Imagine the highways being built to make it easier for you to think that way. Again, here’s the masterpiece highway already built, easy to travel down; here’s the valuable highway—you have four lanes on that one; here’s the crown with favor, the talented and gifted highway in your brain. These pathways are getting deeper, longer, and more established. As you think, you will become.
Now here’s the question: What are you meditating on? The truth is, we’re all meditating on something. There are certain thoughts playing in our minds over and over: «I’ll never get well, » «I can’t break the addiction, » «I’ll always be lonely.» Those repetitive thoughts are building the highways that you will travel down. You need some road closures. Pay attention to what’s playing in your mind; that’s why we say at every service, «I am blessed. I am healthy. I am strong. I’m disciplined. I’m equipped. I’m empowered.» We are meditating on what God says.
I read that the average person has over 40,000 thoughts a day, and 95% of those thoughts are repetitive. It’s the recording that’s been playing in our minds since we were children. It’s defining who we are and how we view the world. Here’s the startling statistic: 80% of the average person’s repetitive thoughts are negative. That means 80% of the time, our neurons are building highways that work against us, wiring our brains for things that limit us. We wonder why we don’t feel good about ourselves, why we live stressed, and why we can’t believe in our dreams.
Maybe you’ve built the wrong highways. Perhaps you’ve trained your brain to work against you and not for you. The good news is, it’s not too late. You can rewire your brain; you can build new pathways that will make it easier for you. Pay attention to what you’re thinking, especially the repetitive thoughts—what you’re telling yourself throughout the day. If that recording is negative, you’re defeating yourself. The scripture says to guard your mind; that’s the command center. By what you’re thinking, you’re building highways that will either help you or hinder you.
When I was eight years old, my younger sister April and I were riding our bikes down the street. We lived in the country with lots of open land. Next to the street, there was a ditch for water to drain in, and it was empty. We were kind of bored, and I said, «April, let’s get down in the ditch and ride there; that’ll be more fun.» It was about five feet deep. We walked our bikes down and started riding through the ditch. We went about 50 yards until we came to a culvert where the ditch stopped, and we couldn’t go any further. I thought, «No big deal. Let’s get out.» But we tried to get out, and it was deeper than we thought. April crawled up the side, and I tried to push my bike up to her, but she wasn’t strong enough. Then we switched places; I got out but still couldn’t lift the bike. It was too heavy. It was easy to get into the ditch, but it was hard to get out.
Sometimes in our minds, we’re in a ditch. We’ve developed these mental ruts from years of wrong thinking: «I’m a victim, » «I’ve been through too much, » «I’ll never get well, » «I can’t break this bad habit.» We’re living in a mental rut that we’ve created; we dug the ditch, we hired the bulldozer, and we paid the contractor. We didn’t realize that through negative thinking, we were building something that would limit us, paving a road that would keep us stuck. April and I couldn’t get out of the ditch by ourselves, and then a young man drove by. He kindly stopped, got down in the ditch, and lifted both of our bikes out.
The difference in our story is that you can get out of your ditch; you can break any stronghold that’s held you back. The forces that are for you are greater than the forces that are against you. When you get in agreement with God and start meditating on what He says, now your repetitive thoughts will be full of faith, hope, and victory. You will come out of those mental ruts. That’s what it means to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. No more «I’m a victim, » «I’ve been through too much.» Those thoughts will keep you in the ditch. Instead, how about, «I am a victor; God always causes me to triumph?» What about, «I’ll never get well»?
«Well, Joel, you should see the medical report; this sickness is going to be the end.» That’s going to keep you stuck. How about «God is restoring health back to me»? «The number of my days He will fulfill»? That’s not just being positive; it’s not just having faith. That’s rewiring your brain; that’s building new highways. That’s what’s going to bring you out of that middle rut and allow God to do what only He can do.
You need to examine your life. Are you in any ruts? Have you built roads in your thinking that are easy to go down, but it’s not where you want to go? You’ve got these highways leading to discouragement, saying you can’t do it, that you’re not valuable. That comes naturally to you, but it’s limiting you. That’s a learned behavior. You’ve learned to be unhappy, learned to be offended, learned to not believe in yourself. That’s okay; you can relearn; you can rewire your brain. Now, pay attention to the repetitive thoughts. Are they positive, building you up, or are they guilt-ridden? You’re the command center; you’re giving the orders, telling your neurons which pathways to build. Make sure it’s a pathway leading you somewhere you want to go.
I talked to a lady who had been through a very difficult and hurtful divorce. It was 10 years ago at that time, but she was still so bitter and so angry because her husband had left for someone else and caused all this heartache and pain. I know it’s not easy, but at some point, you have to move forward. You have to give it to God and trust Him to be your vindicator. People can’t pay you back; only God can. She was trying to get from her ex-husband what only God could give. She wasn’t going to be happy until he was unhappy, but he was out enjoying his life. He had remarried and moved on. It may not have been right, but if someone has hurt you once, don’t let them continue to hurt you by holding on to it. She was here at the altar for prayer, and she said, «Joel, I can’t forgive him; he hurt me too badly.»
I understood what she meant, because she had held on to that unforgiveness for 10 years. That’s all she thought about. Do you know how deep that rut was? How long, how wide that highway was? It wasn’t four lanes; it was like sixteen lanes. It was easy for her to be angry and offended. She’d built an incredible pathway. I told her, of course, what I’m telling you: you have to change what’s happening here. All through the day, when it comes up, instead of thinking bitter, angry thoughts, how about saying, «Father, thank you that you have beauty for these ashes. Lord, you said what was meant for harm you would turn to my advantage. Father, thank you that I have the grace to forgive.»
She began to rewire her brain. I saw her a couple of years later, out there at the visitors' center; she was like a different person—happy, beautiful, grateful. What happened? She started building new highways; she started meditating on the right things—not the hurts, not the injustice. The enemy would love for you to keep building those roads; he knows it’ll keep you in a rut, stuck in bitterness, stuck in defeat. Well, do like she did: put up some road closures. No more going down those paths. That algorithm is going to keep feeding hurts, feeding discouragement. How about rewiring your brain? Send some new commands of hope, faith, and victory. That’s how you get out of mental ruts.
This is what Gideon had to do in the scripture: he was hiding in the wine press, afraid of the Midianites that were surrounding the city. An angel came to him and said, «Mighty hero, the Lord is with you; you are to lead the people of Israel to defeat the Midianites.» Gideon was taken aback; he said, in effect, «That’s not possible. I come from the poorest family; I am the least one in my father’s house.» He didn’t get that way overnight; that was a mental rut that took years to develop. He was, no doubt, told that he wasn’t up to par, that he wasn’t talented, and that he couldn’t do anything great. He let circumstances convince him that he was at a disadvantage, and those thoughts played over and over. His neurons went to work, doing what they were created to do, building pathways of inferiority and not enough. That’s who he became. This angel showed up and told him who he really was: a mighty hero.
Well, able, he spoke victory, blessings, and favor over his life. Here’s the whole key: it was up to Gideon as to what he would do with it. Would he continue to meditate on the old, limited, too-small thoughts, or would he change what he was thinking? Would he send out some new commands? «I am a mighty hero. I am well able. I am strong in the Lord.» He needed to change his recording. He came out of that rut, and he went on to become the mighty hero God called him to be. He’s listed in Hebrews 11 as one of the heroes of faith. This would have never happened if he had not rewired his brain. If he’d kept thinking all the negative, defeated thoughts, he would have stayed in the rut; we wouldn’t be talking about it.
Pay attention to what you’re thinking, especially the repetitive thoughts. Do they line up with who God says you are: mighty, hero, talented, valuable, forgiven? Is that what you’re meditating on, building pathways that you want to go down? Or are those neurons working against you, building roads that you don’t want to travel? Perhaps you need to rewire your brain: change those negative patterns that are pulling you down. Don’t go the next 30 years stuck in a mental rut. You’re in charge of your command center; you get to choose what you think about. Get up in the morning and set your mind for victory. All through the day, meditate on what God says about you. Get on the right algorithm. If you’ll do this, I believe and declare that any strongholds keeping you back are being broken right now. God is going to help you rewire your brain; you are coming out of mental ruts into freedom, peace, confidence, and victory in Jesus' name. And if you receive it, can you say amen? Amen! I receive it as well!