Loving God

Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” Matthew 22:37 NKJV
 
     These words kept rolling through my mind as I tried to sleep. Over and over this passage of scripture kept speaking to me. I thought, “I wonder what all we expose our minds to that is unloving to God?” I never really thought much of this until that night. Now I know it is extremely important to love God with your mind as well as with your heart and soul.
 
     I believe we are aware of the love we feel in our hearts that is obviously from God. I mean there are times in worship, prayer, and even in silence while pondering the things of God that I feel my heart swell with love for Him. I recognize, and perhaps you do too, the ways God’s love has changed me and how love has increased in my life. The simple things bless me in ways I never thought possible now that God’s love is established in my heart. My outlook on life has drastically changed. Often, I set and cry because the goodness of God is evident to me. I believe you understand what I am saying. Love is something we can feel, but we cannot always describe it. We seek for it, desire it, yet have few words to accurately communicate it.
 
     I somewhat understand loving God with my soul. My soul is inside of me. It involves my emotions, my will, my thoughts, my conscience, and the things I believe in. My soul is my personality, the identity I live by, and my person on the inside. My soul is greatly connected to my heart and my mind. Within my soul are hidden fears, doubts, and memories. Oh yes, the soul is saved through Jesus, and is transformed through God’s truth, His love experienced, and by the power of His Spirit. When I love God with my soul it is seen when I give it to Him for transformation that changes me into the image of His Son, Jesus. I do this with my heart also. I give it all to God for His pleasure that results in my righteousness, peace, and joy. My true identity is discovered, embraced, and expressed through the power of His work.  Wow! What a Savior!
 
     But what about loving God with my mind? That’s a doozy of a question, I know. Our mind is closely related to our soul and our heart, just as the heart and soul are closely related to our mind. They run together, but I think I can isolate these a little. When I love God with my mind, (thoughts, intellect, sensory) I willingly forfeit my mind to Him for His will and purpose. That means I protect my mind from allowing ungodly things to enter my soul through my gates. Gates such as my eyes, ears, and body. I guard my eyes with things I see (intentionally watch), my ears with things I hear (intentionally listen to), and body with things I do (intentionally give my body over to).
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     I love God with my mind by learning all that I can about Him and the things in this life He wants me to know. I love Him with my mind when I think of good things, things that are praiseworthy, true, lovely, just, and things that are noble. (Philippians 4:8) I love God when I meditate on His Word and allow Him to transform me by the renewing of my mind. I love Him by yielding my intellect to Him so that He can use it as He pleases.
 
     My dreams and visions that take place in my mind are to be given to Him as tokens of my love. This means that I intentionally protect my mind from the enemy and the world the best I know how. My mind is designed to be a place inside of me (God’s Vessel) for His Kingdom purpose on the earth. If I give my mind over to anything less, then I have not loved God with my mind as I am told in His Word. Of course, our minds are used for everyday functions, decisions, and tasks, but it’s not limited to that. There is a part of our mind that is commanded to love God.
 
     I share this to encourage you to pay attention to things you give your mind over to. There are things that creep up and creep in seemingly unaware. If I truly want to be a vessel for The Lord, my mind must have His attention. Wasting time on watching television, scrolling on social media, and meditating on last night’s argument with my husband is far from loving God with my mind. We all must commit to do better if we truly want to love God with our heart, our soul, and our mind. Let's do better!
 
God bless you and your family!
Becky Keener