With All Your Mind

A Mind Made to Know God

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Jesus said, “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30). Loving God is not only a feeling. It includes your thinking.

Your mind. Your mind is the part of you that thinks, learns, remembers, asks questions and makes plans. God made it, and He wants it to love Him too.

The scribe's word. The scribe said to love God “with all the understanding” (Mark 12:33). Jesus saw that he “answered wisely.” He had thought carefully about God's Word.

God shows Himself. Paul wrote, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead” (Romans 1:20). When you look at the stars, a tiny ant or the ocean, your mind can see God's power.

Great works to study. A psalm says that the works of the Lord are great, and that everyone who delights in them studies them (Psalm 111:2). Loving God with your mind means learning all you can, and trusting Him with what you cannot understand yet.

A mind turned away. Sin did not only change what people do. It changed how they think. Paul told the believers in Colossae that they had once been strangers to God and enemies in their minds, and their wrong actions showed it (Colossians 1:21).

Brought back. But Paul went on. Now Jesus has made peace between them and God through His death on the cross, so that He can bring them before God holy and without blame (Colossians 1:22).

The mind of Christ. God gives His Holy Spirit to everyone who trusts Jesus. Paul wrote that believers have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16). The Holy Spirit helps us understand God's Word and begin to think the way Jesus thinks.

Questions are welcome. You do not have to turn off your brain to follow Jesus. Ask your questions. Read your Bible slowly. Ask a parent or pastor to help you understand a hard part.

Thinking that worships. When you learn how big the universe is, how a seed grows or how your heart beats, you can turn what you learn into thanks. That is loving God with your mind.

What to do. This week, pick one thing God made, like a leaf, a bug or the night sky. Look at it closely, and thank God for what it shows you about Him.

Deuteronomy 6:5 says to love God “with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” When Jesus quoted it, He also named the mind: “with all your mind” (Mark 12:30).

Dianoia. The Greek word is dianoia (say: dee-AH-noy-ah), the thinking, understanding part of a person. God does not ask for a love that skips the mind. He asks for a love that includes it.

Understanding (12:33). The scribe repeated the command with “all the understanding,” and Jesus said he “answered wisely” (12:34). He had used his mind on God's Word, and it had brought him near the kingdom.

Creation speaks (Romans 1:20). “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead.” God made a world that the mind can read. Science, music, math and language can all become ways of loving God when they lead us to thank Him.

Studied with delight (Psalm 111:2). The Lord's works are great, and all who delight in them search them out. Loving God with the mind means thinking hard and also bowing low. A mind that loves God does not demand to understand everything before it trusts Him.

The mind's problem (Colossians 1:21). Paul says that people were once alienated from God and enemies in their minds by wicked works. Sin is not only wrong actions; it is thinking that pushes God away and calls it freedom.

The mind's rescue (Colossians 1:22). Yet Christ has made peace in the body of His flesh through death, to present believers holy and blameless in God's sight. The cross deals with the hostile mind as well as the guilty record.

The mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16). Paul says believers have the mind of Christ. Through the Holy Spirit, God gives an understanding of His Word that the mind cannot reach on its own.

Faith and thinking. Faith is not the opposite of thinking. It is trusting the God whose wisdom is greater than ours, and then thinking hard inside that trust.

Application. Bring your questions to God's Word instead of setting them aside. Ask an older believer to study a hard passage with you. Thank God for your mind, and give Him your best thinking as an act of love.

Set Your Mind on Things Above

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When Jesus brings our minds back to God, He wants us to keep them pointed toward Him. He helps us do it.

Look up. Paul wrote that if we have been raised with Christ, we should seek the things above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God (Colossians 3:1).

Set your mind. Then he said to set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth (Colossians 3:2). Setting your mind is like setting a compass. You point your thinking toward Jesus again and again.

Jesus is there. Jesus died, rose and went back to heaven. He is alive and reigning now. Thinking about Him gives us hope and courage on hard days.

Think about these things. Paul gave a list in Philippians 4:8. Think about whatever is true, noble, just, pure, lovely and of good report. If anything is excellent or worthy of praise, think about these things.

What fills your mind. What you watch, read and listen to fills your mind. God's Word, true stories, beautiful music and kind words help you think about what pleases Him.

Thoughts taken captive. Paul said believers fight with weapons that are not of this world, and that they can bring every thought into captivity to obey Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). When a scary, mean or untrue thought comes, you do not have to let it stay. Bring it to Jesus, ask what is true and pray about it. If a scary thought keeps coming back, tell a parent or another grown-up you trust.

Perfect peace. Isaiah said that God keeps in perfect peace the person whose mind stays on Him, because that person trusts in Him (Isaiah 26:3).

Help from God. We cannot keep our thoughts pure by trying harder. Jesus forgives our wrong thoughts, and His Holy Spirit helps us think new ones.

What to do. Read Philippians 4:8 every morning this week. When a bad thought comes, stop and pray, Jesus, help me think about what is true.

If loving God with the mind matters, then what we think about matters. Paul tells believers where to point their thinking.

Seek above (Colossians 3:1). Paul begins with what is already true: believers have been raised with Christ. So they are to seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.

Phroneo (3:2). “Set your mind” translates phroneo (say: fro-NEH-oh), to think about, to keep one's attention fixed on something. Paul tells believers to set their minds on things above, not on things on the earth. It is a daily habit, not a single moment.

Why above? Because that is where Christ is. Setting the mind above is not daydreaming about clouds. It is thinking about the risen, reigning Jesus and letting Him shape life here on earth.

A list to think on (Philippians 4:8). Paul names whatever things are true, noble, just, pure, lovely and of good report, and anything of virtue or worthy of praise, and he says to meditate on these things. Many Christians see that every word on the list describes Jesus Himself.

A battle for thoughts (2 Corinthians 10:5). Paul speaks of casting down arguments and every proud thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to obey Christ.

Thoughts that argue with God. Some thoughts set themselves up against what God says: God does not care, I am worthless, I can never change. Paul says to take each one captive and answer it with what God has said.

Stayed on Him (Isaiah 26:3). Isaiah says the Lord keeps in perfect peace the one whose mind is stayed on Him, because he trusts in Him. Peace follows trust, and trust grows as the mind keeps returning to God.

Not by willpower alone. No one keeps a pure thought life by effort alone. Jesus forgives sinful thoughts, and the Holy Spirit renews the mind over time. Right thinking is fruit of grace, not a way to earn it.

Application. Choose one word from Philippians 4:8 each day this week. Notice one thing in your day that fits it, and thank God. When a lie about God or about yourself comes, answer it with a verse.

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