Several years ago I took an exam to officially become a Licensed Clinical Psychologist. I had been working towards this for eight years and was so excited that I would soon clear the last hurdle. In the months and weeks leading up to the exam, I reviewed everything that I learned during graduate school and, at the same time, reminisced about my journey.

One memory in particular, of when I was about to take my first neuroscience class, stuck out. The class required that I memorize all of the structures of the brain and their functions. During a conversation with a peer who had taken the class a year before, I mentioned that I was nervous about the course, explaining that memorization was not my strong suit.

“Oh!” She exclaimed. “You’re going to love this class.”

She went on to explain to me that all brain structures are made up of tiny cells called neurons. Their job is to communicate with one another, and to send information from the brain to other parts of the body. What’s really cool about neurons, though, is that neuronal connections get stronger and stronger the more we use them. For example, learning how to ride a bike is difficult, at first, because all the neurons involved in that task can’t communicate with one another very well yet. But the more one practices riding a bike, the connection between those neurons strengthens, and the task becomes easier.

“So,” my classmate said, “It’s not that you’re not good at memorizing. It’s just that you have to keep practicing and strengthening the connection the neurons involved in memorization.”

It turns out that there’s truth to what my friend said. Neuroscientists are now discovering that human ability is a lot more flexible than previously believed. Our brain is capable of growing and becoming stronger; we just have to work hard at it.

That realization changed the way I looked at myself and how I approached my studies.

Similarly, I’ve found myself believing that the love of God is more finite than it actually is and that has affected the way that I treat myself and others. But the truth is that God’s love is infinite! The knowledge of that changes the way I look at myself and at the world. And the best part is: I don’t have to work for it. Jesus paid it all.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38-39, NIV).

Jael Amador writes from New York.

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