The late Candace Pert wrote a fascinating book called Molecules of Emotion. The main takeaway that sticks in my mind is the studies she did concerning how the body responds to the brain’s processing of emotions. It honestly opened up for me a whole new appreciation for the way God created us, and how it all ties into scriptural truth.
She did extensive studies in biology and brain science, and probably should have won a Nobel Prize for her groundbreaking work. And her discoveries have been continually strengthened and corroborated.
In a nutshell, here’s how it works. The brain responds to emotions with chemical reactions. Unique neuropeptides are released whenever we experience a specific emotion, and these neuropeptides are instantly released into our bloodstream where they travel throughout our entire body and attach to receptors in every cell. Each neuropeptide is unique in that it bonds to the cell through a receptor that is specifically designed to accept only that particular neuropeptide.
It’s like a key fitting into a lock. For example, if you experience fear, then your brain releases fear neuropeptides, which are instantly accepted by every cell in your body through your cells’ fear receptors. Every cell in your body then prepares for the fear response, which may include a faster heart rate, the diversion of blood to your inner core, and an intensity in every muscle and cell in your body.
The most interesting thing is that as your body experiences a particular emotion repeatedly, your cells begin to form more and more of the receptors for that emotion. So, if you experience fear on a regular basis, your cells develop more fear receptors, until they begin expecting more fear neuropeptides. They begin longing for them, and from there it’s a downward spiral. Fear satisfies the urges of every cell in your body and you begin to be trapped by a state of fear, which then becomes natural to you because every cell in your body wants it. It’s called a habit.
I recognized the clear connection to biblical principles, and I believe Romans 12:2 speak directly to this phenomenon. It says
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2).
Fear is running rampant in our society these days. The fear response is easily triggered by the news media, who rely on fear to get ratings and attract listeners. If the only information you’re receiving about the world comes through the evening news, then you will be much more subject to this spirit of fear. In the words of Don Henley:
I make my living off the evening news
Just give me something
Something I can use
People love it when you lose
They love dirty laundry
We got the bubble headed
Bleached blonde
Comes on at five
She can tell you ’bout the plane crash
With a gleam in her eye
It’s interesting when people die
Give us dirty laundry
Dirty little secrets
Dirty little lies
We got our dirty little fingers
In everybody’s pie
We love to cut you down to size
We love dirty laundry
We can do the innuendo
We can dance and sing
When it’s said and done
We haven’t told you a thing
We all know that crap is king
Give us dirty laundry
Those who depend on the evening news are being lied to and deceived about virtually everything that’s going on in the world. And most of it brings fear. The powers that be have known for ages that fear is the best way to control the populace, because it gets the fear neuropeptides flowing and then we must have more and more in order to feel normal. It’s literally an addiction.
Now, my purpose here is not necessarily to talk only about fear. These neuropeptides work for every emotional state. This all really hit home for me when I was listening to a favorite Christian teacher who said he believed that depression is not caused by a chemical imbalance in your body, but the depression is what actually causes the chemical imbalance. Pert’s work perfectly substantiates this position. And I agree.
Now, don’t get mad at me. In the specific case of depression, I believe there can be a chemical imbalance that needs to be addressed, but I believe that constitutes the minority of cases. Depression, fear, anger, lust, happiness, joy and a host of other emotions follow the same pattern. If you suffer from bondage to some emotional state, I have compassion for you because these things are very difficult at times to overcome. But the good news is that the Bible, as always, has an answer for your dilemma.
Now, it would be very easy for me to say, since the emotional state that you struggle with may have been caused NOT by some chemical imbalance, but by your own habit of thinking, then just change your thoughts! That’s actually the truth, and that’s the biblical solution, but it’s not so easy to live it, right? But the Bible is very clear that controlling our own thoughts is something we must take seriously:
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things” (Philippians 4:8).
“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices” (Colossians 3:5-10).
“Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God” (James 1:19-20).
“We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).
“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:31-32).
“Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life” (Proverbs 4:23).
Some may find this message offensive, thinking that you have no control over such things, that you’re wired for fear, or anger, or whatever. But I believe that the truth can set people free. What’s better, to be wired a certain way and have to take meds for it the rest of your life, because you have no control over the way you were wired from birth, or rather to find out that there is actually something you can do about this thing, and that you’re not doomed to some pre-existing status quo that you have no control over?
Now I also have to be clear that if it was as easy as just changing your thoughts, then we would all be happy and joyful and have no struggles whatsoever. Truth is, that’s not actually possibly all by ourselves. True, we must be interested in and committed to change, but true change can only come about through the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
Paul makes it clear in Galatians 3 that our ongoing maturation in the things of the Spirit come by the same means as our salvation. In other words, our salvation came by simple faith in what Jesus did for us, and so does our ongoing life of victory:
“ This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?…So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?” (Galatians 3:2-3,5).
By yourself it’s often very difficult to overcome certain habits of the mind. But you are not by yourself if you have given your life to Jesus. The Holy Spirit indwells you, and is absolutely interested in helping you overcome anything you bring to Him in humility. It’s called healing, and it’s a critical part of the atonement of Jesus that He purchased for us through His suffering, death and resurrection.
Emotional healing is perhaps more needed for some people than spiritual healing. And now that we know the true mechanism behind emotional bondage, perhaps we can take a step in the direction fo healing. What this looks like is cooperation with God as He first identifies the sources of the struggles you’re having, and then puts in place His plan for total healing.
It’s been done a thousand times before. Testimonies abound of emotional healing, often instantaneously as God heals the receptors in every cell of the body to no longer expect the neuropeptides for fear, or anger, or lust, or anxiety, or whatever. In this way, it becomes clear that physical healing of, say, blindness, as Jesus demonstrated during His life on earth, is in the same category as healing from anger. It’s all about re-arranging matter itself on a sub-microscopic level to conform the original condition in which we were created: “And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31).
But even if it’s not instantaneous (sometimes miraculous healings take time) it’s still part of the promise of God for you personally. All it takes is a decision on your part, a very serious decision, to let God take control. It may take time, but He is in the healing business. You can start doing what you can do, which is aligning yourself with the truth of God, like David did at Ziklag, after the enemy had destroyed his city and taken their families captive:
“David and the people who were with him lifted their voices and wept until there was no strength in them to weep…David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him, for all the people were embittered, each one because of his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God” (1 Samuel 30:4,6).
You can strengthen yourself, not all by yourself, not in your own strength, not by your own intestinal fortitude, but you can “strengthen yourself in the Lord.” Give it all up to Him. Acknowledge that you can’t do it on your own. Admit that your thoughts have not been aligned with His thoughts:
“’For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts’” (Isaiah 55:8-9).
But remember this is an old covenant scripture. Now we have the Holy Spirit permanently living inside us, which is something David never experienced. As you call on the help of the Holy Spirit, then you cannot help but see a change in the way you see everything, including your emotional struggles. The molecules of emotion must bow the knee to the work of the Spirit in your mind and in your brain, and you will begin to see the changes that God has promised to those who love Him.