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The Bible teaches repetition.
I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth (Psalm 34:1, ESV, emphasis added).
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice (Philippians 4:4, emphasis added).
Recent brain health studies show what the Bible has taught for thousands of years: we were created for repetition. Here are some recently discovered facts about the brain…
- The brain builds grooves to support habits. The adage of doing something 10,000 times is true. Things like making free throws take about 200 to 300 repetitions a day for a year to make permanent neural pathways.
- Science shows that when we love doing something or have fun doing a task, the dopamine released in our brains forms the habit much sooner.
- Our brain resists change, but once we begin a task, that resistance is gradually overwhelmed by the part of the brain that wants to complete it.
- A recent study found that a small part of the brain grows when we do something we don’t want to do. This part of the brain supports our health and well-being, and it grows only when we challenge ourselves with tasks we don’t want to do.
- The brain has been shown to be smaller in people with addiction and larger in athletes.
- In older people who continually challenge themselves, the brain remains healthy, while in seniors who stop doing new things, it shrinks.
Below, find verses that reveal what’s being learned by recent researchers in brain studies. Reflect on these verses in connection with what you have just read.
- The righteous will live by faith (Romans 1:17).
- God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7).
- His delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water (Psalm 1:2-3a).
- Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of many kinds (James 1:2).
- Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear (Ephesians 4:29).
I have three personal habits that I repeat most days — devotions, writing, and riding a bicycle. If I skip a day, I feel funny in my spirit. When I travel and my habits get disrupted, I have no problem renewing my schedule once I return to normality. God has designed our spirit, soul, and body to be blessed by repetition. However, too often our habits reflect what the Apostle Paul wrote, “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing” (Romans 7:19).
Solution: memorize and repeat Romans 8:1-2 10 to 20 times a day for the next three months…
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.