“Jesus answered, ‘The most important [commandment] is, Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your MIND and with all your strength.”  Mark 12:29-30

Loving God every day involves a battle for our minds.

What do I mean?

Think about how many times your thought life has caused you to stumble or fall into temptation. Perhaps it’s the fear of the unknown that consumes your mind. The more you think and dwell on this fear, the bigger it becomes – eventually, completely drowning out your faith in God’s goodness, faithfulness, and provision. That’s why 2 Corinthians 10:5 reminds us to “demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

In other words, Paul is teaching the church in Corinth how to battle for their minds, and it starts with taking every thought captive and holding it up against the knowledge of God. 

How do we know the knowledge – the character – the mind of God?

We study God’s Word.

That’s why personal quiet time and Bible study are so critical in battling for our minds. How else will we know the mind of God and what is true in the face of lies? How else will we know what God expects of us and how we are to live? You won’t learn that by listening to talk radio, staring at a computer/phone, or vegging out in front of the TV.

No, loving God with all our minds requires that our minds meditate on God and God’s Word.

One of my favorite passages of Scripture is Isaiah 55:8 and 9. “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.”

Those verses are a beautiful description of why the Word of God is so unique. Because so much of what we read, listen to, or consume on social media today tends to be contrary to the truth found in God’s Word, we need to immerse ourselves in His Word as one way in which we can really get to know God. The more we get to know WHO God is, the better we can identify and combat the lies of this world.

The more we KNOW God, the more we can love God with our minds.

Written by Bryant Wright, Founder, RFTH

DIG DEEPER

Read “How Much Do You Love God?” also by Bryant Wright