EPIGENETICS – Every cell in your body is listening to what your mind is thinking

AS A MAN THINKS IN HIS “HEART”, SO IS HE?

IS SCIENCE FINALLY STARTING TO CATCH UP WITH WHAT GOD, THROUGH THE BIBLE, HAS BEEN SAYING FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS?

What Is EPIGENETICS?

Epigenetics is one way that scientists learn how the things around us and the choices we make change the way our genes work. We often think of genes as factors we have no control over. After all, we inherit them from our biological parents. And from the moment we enter the world, those genes determine so much about us — from our eye color to our risk for certain diseases. Genes feel set in stone and predetermined. But what if we could change how those genes work in ways that improve our health?

Scientists have known for a while that our environment and individual attitudes and behaviors shape our health.

For example, the latest research shows epigenetic changes are involved in:

• How your metabolism works.
• The aging process and diseases associated with aging.
• Disorders affecting your brain, including Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and syndromes that cause intellectual disability.
• The development of cancer.
• Substance use disorders.
• Inflammation and related conditions, including asthma and autoimmune diseases.

What can change the epigenome? Here are some examples:

• Foods and nutrition,
• trauma,
• learning experiences and interactions,
• exposure to toxins like diesel exhaust or cigarette smoke,
• exposure to certain chemicals like plastics or lead,
• certain prescription medications,
• use of substances like alcohol, tobacco and recreational drugs,
• your level of physical activity,
• the level of stress in your daily life,
• your relationships and social interactions, the community you live in, including your church, and the ways it supports (or doesn’t support) you.

Scientists are still investigating how these exposures and encounters translate to changes in your cells. In general, these factors create epigenetic marks on your DNA that affect how your cells work.

Can you positively influence your epigenome? Mayo Clinic says yes!

“Every cell in your body is listening to what your mind is thinking”

Epigenetics: (video, 2 mins, 3 secs)

Karan Kakkad, (video, 57 seconds)

References (for credibility):

Harvard Health https://www.health.harvard.edu/depression/how-genes-and-life-events-affect-mood-and-depression and,

Psychology Today https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/your-genetic-destiny/201501/how-stress-changes-your-genes-0 and

Mayo Clinic https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/epigenetics

I ask again, “can you positively influence your epigenome?” Mayo Clinic says “yes”,  AND THE BIBLE TELLS YOU HOW!

To begin with, the Bible says that the wages (or payment) for sin is death. (see Romans 6:23).

Galatians 5:19-21 tells us, “Now the deeds of the flesh [the sinful nature] are evident, which are: sexual immorality, impurity, indecent behavior, idolatry, witchcraft, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God”.

(The “flesh” refers to the sinful nature inherent in humanity, a concept rooted in the fall of man (Genesis 3)).

Galatians 5:22-23, But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

(The term “fruit” signifies the natural result or product of the Holy Spirit’s presence and activity in a believer’s life. Fruit of the Spirit is in the singular, indicating a unified whole rather than separate attributes. This suggests that these qualities are interconnected and grow together as a result of the Spirit’s work.)

“For the mind set on [or governed by] the things of the flesh [the sinful nature of man] is death”(Romans 8:6 (a)).

HENCE – THE TYRANNY OF SIN

John 8:34, Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.”

(Dr. Jordan Peterson on slaves and the promised land): https://www.facebook.com/reel/746953607730164

However, John 8:36, tells us that, “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed”.

How does this come about? The Bible says to MEDITATE, SET YOUR MIND ON, THINK ON THESE THINGS…

(FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT):

Example Verse: Joshua 1:8, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful [i.e., observe] to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will achieve success [i.e., shall have insight]. NASB.

Meditate: Strong’s Hebrew #1897, ‘hagah‘, occurs twenty-five times, embracing a spectrum of sounds and intentions that range from quiet meditation on God’s instruction to the throaty growl of unrest or complaint. The varied settings show that what the lips utter and what the heart ponders are inseparably linked in biblical spirituality.

Joshua 1:8 inaugurates the covenant life of Israel in the land: “This Book of the Law must not depart from your mouth; you are to meditate on it day and night.” The verb, ‘meditate’, marks an audible, continual musing that shapes obedience and prosperity.

(Psalm 1:2 echoes the same rhythm of day-and-night devotion, portraying the blessed man whose inner dialogue is saturated with the Torah. The Psalter expands the theme: “When I remember You on my bed, I think of You through the watches of the night” (Psalm 63:6), and “I will meditate on all You have done and ponder Your mighty deeds” (Psalm 77:12)).

Meditation is thus an act of covenant loyalty, anchoring memory, identity, and hope.

Ministry Implications

1. Discipleship: Biblical meditation is not silent daydreaming but voiced rehearsal of Scripture that renews the mind and readies obedience.
   2. Preaching and Teaching: Effective proclamation springs from patient, prayerful rumination; the pulpit should echo hours of scriptural pondering.
   3. Pastoral Care: The verb invites sufferers to articulate their pain before God, legitimizing sighs, groans, and honest lament within faith.
   4. Spiritual Warfare: Because ungodly schemes begin as whispered plots, guarding the heart’s meditations is crucial for personal and communal holiness.

(FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT):

Example Verse: Philippians 4:8, Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on [i.e., think on] these things.

Meditate – think on: Strong’s Greek word #3049, ‘logizomai’, means To reckon, to consider, to account, to think, to impute. And its cognates describe the mental act of reckoning, calculating, counting something as true, or crediting something to an account. While the term can speak of simple arithmetic or deliberation, the New Testament frequently uses it for God’s gracious act of crediting righteousness and for the believer’s deliberate act of counting divine realities as present facts.

Summary: It is a good thing to memorized Philippians 4:8, but what it says  that we are to do is to THINK ON THE THINGS that are “pure, things are lovely, things that are of good report, virtuous things and anything that is praiseworthy”. (Try it).

Strong’s Greek word #3049, ‘logizomai’, THINK ON, portrays both God’s decisive action in salvation and the believer’s ongoing mental alignment with revealed truth. To “reckon” is to let God’s verdict in Christ define reality, shaping faith, ethics, and perseverance until glory.

Alternatives:

Example Verse: 1 Timothy 4:15, “Meditate on these things [ESV puts it ‘practice these things,’ and the NASB puts it ‘take pains with these things’]; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all.

 Meditate / Pre-meditate / Devise with great pains: Strong’s Greek #3191, ‘meletaó.’ means to meditate, to care for, to practice, to study.

Strong’s Greek #3191, ‘meletaó.’ moves along two closely-related tracks: sustained inward contemplation and deliberate outward practice. As Scripture employs the verb, it gathers both strands into a single movement of the heart—what the mind settles on, the life works out.

Scripture never divorces meditation from revelation. The mind does not drift inward to find truth; it anchors itself in what God has spoken. Christian meditation is therefore verbal (rooted in the Word), intentional (repeated), and worshipful (directed to God).

Summary: Strong’s Greek #3191, ‘meletaó.’, meditate, binds thought and action. From the conspiratorial councils of Psalm 2 to the disciplined ministry of Timothy, Scripture shows that whatever the heart continually turns over will soon guide the hands. Christian meditation therefore refuses vain plotting and commits itself to the Word, confident that such focused practice will display tangible progress and advance the gospel.

Example Verse: Colossians 3:2, “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.”

Set Your Mind On:  Strong’s Greek #5426, ‘phroneó’, appearing in varied forms twenty-six times, describes an interior posture that guides outward behavior. More than mere cognition, it involves the settled disposition of the will—what one “sets the heart on.” In Scripture, the verb often answers the question, “Where is your mind anchored?” and so serves as a diagnostic of spiritual health.

Summary

Strong’s #5426 ‘phroneó’, Set Your Mind On, spans intellect, emotion, and will. It calls believers to align every inner disposition with the character and purposes of God revealed in Jesus Christ, producing unified, humble, mission-focused communities whose outward life testifies to an inward mind set on things above.

“Our thoughts and emotions affect every cell in our biology. There is so much science and so much research in the last 20 years in mind-body connection, that is the science of epigenetics, that we know that the environment and emotions affect your genes. It is your emotions that can change your genes.”

“So what emotions are you living with? Anger, guilt, regret, fear, lack, unworthiness? That is just going to create more disease. But if you are living more in gratitude, love, joy, happiness, those emotions get conveyed by your nervous system into every cell of your body, and they turn on genes which created more health, they turn on genes with create more immunity in your system. The emotions we live with will ultimately decide our health and happiness.”