Love God with all Your Mind – Discover Bedrock Truth

by B. Nathaniel Sullivan

an article originally published by Always Ready Ministries

A mindless Christianity is no Christianity at all.
— R. C. Sproul —

In Matthew 22:34-40 and Mark 12:28-34, an expert in the law of Moses approached Jesus and asked Him, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

Jesus replied by quoting from Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18. These two verses state, respectively,

- - “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength,” and
  - “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.”

A similar exchange took place in Luke 10:25-37, but apparently Luke was reporting a different incident.¹ Even so, we can learn much from studying this account from Luke alongside the accounts appearing in Matthew 22 and Mark 12.

The thing that intrigues me most about all three of these conversations is how Jesus in Matthew and Mark, and how the expert in the law in Luke 10, quoted Deuteronomy 6:5. Again, Deuteronomy 6:5 says, “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”

- - Matthew tells us Jesus quoted the passage this way: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”
  - Here’s how Mark indicates Jesus quoted it. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”
  - From Luke we learn that an expert in the Law asked Jesus what he needed to do to receive eternal life. Jesus responded by asking him what the Scriptures said. The man answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” Jesus commended him: “ ‘You have answered correctly,’ Jesus replied. ‘Do this and you will live.’”

What is the main difference between these recitations of Deuteronomy 6:5 and the verse itself? It is the directive that we must God with all our minds! Clearly Jesus and the expert in the Law did not misquote the passage. Rather, their renderings highlight an aspect of loving God that is implicit in the original command.

As 21^st-century believers, we can be especially thankful that the New Testament explicitly teaches our obligation to love God with all our minds. There are many aspects to this, of course; but I want to be very practical here and focus on just one. How do we obey this command? Consider the following five points of action.

First, be a disciple of Christ, not merely a convert to Christianity. A disciple is actively learning and growing. Thus, he or she is involved in a process that requires thinking and even wrestling with the truths and implications of what following Jesus means.

Second, cultivate a Christlike mind. Live out your faith in Him by using your head, not just by following your heart. In what we now know as Romans 12:1-2, the apostle Paul wrote, “I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will” (emphasis added). Moreover, to Timothy, his son in the faith, Paul wrote, “ Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15). Significantly, the translators of the King James Version rendered the term translated “Do your best” in the NIV as “Study.”

Cultivating a Christlike mind will require you develop a deep appreciation for God’s truth, and to understand the strong relationship between truth and love. Biblically, love never ignores the truth, and truth never neglects love. I guarantee that living this way will mean swimming upstream against the culture of our day. So be it.

Closely related to this second item is a third. Recognize that that appearances deceive, so Christians must be able to explain why and how they deceive in specific situations. Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25 state, “There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.” Today, generally speaking, people blindly follow their feelings and instincts. Loving God with all our minds—as well loving people as ourselves, for that matter—means being compelled to warn them about the dangers of failing to follow God’s design and direction.

Unfortunately, a growing number of Christians, especially young believers, are falling into the trap of following their feelings—and the crowd—with apparently little or no recognition of or connection to the truth. Here’s one example. Recently, Ryan Bomberger, a black, pro-life speaker, was invited by Wheaton College Republicans to speak on the themes of abortion and race. Ryan was “conceived in rape yet adopted and loved into a multiracial family of 15.” Thus, even with these credentials alone, he has a perspective is well worth hearing. Yet a significant number of students claimed that he “made many students, staff, and faculty of color feel unheard, underrepresented, and unsafe” at the school. Learn more about the incident here and here. Please, don’t let feelings carry you along wherever they will! Remember Paul’s admonition to Timothy, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity” (2 Tim. 4:12).

Fourth, recognize and appreciate the clarity and reasonableness of Christianity. In the Book of Isaiah, God declares, “ ‘Come now, and let us reason together, says the LORD. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool’” (Isa. 1:18, NKJV). Christianity is a reasonable faith. God does not forgive sins arbitrarily, in ways that follow no pattern or in ways that make no sense. At the same time, His plan to bring forgiveness to those who desire it confounds the human mind. This too, makes sense. Christianity is grounded in reality and truth.

Fifth, become an articulate and effective defender of Christianity. Don’t just know what you believe, but why you believe it. The apostle Peter gave this instruction to Christians facing heavy persecution, “[I]n your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.” Clearly, obeying this instruction will require you to engage with your mind, and that is a wonderful thing. To stimulate your thinking, check out other articles released by Always Ready Ministries. Moreover, this series is recommended as well.

How do we love God with all our minds? While much more needs to be said that we’ve been able to cover here, we’ve thrown out some initial ideas that will help you become intentional in pursuing this important aspect of Christianity.

Jump in!

January 19, 2019

Access other articles published by Always Ready Ministries here.

B. Nathaniel Sullivan was the Senior Editor at Always Ready Ministries during its existence. Visit his websites at www.wordfoundations.com and www.discoverbedrocktruth.org.

Note:

¹Robert L. Thomas and Stanley N. Grundy, The NIV Harmony of the Gospels: A Revised Edition of the John A. Broadus and A. T. Robertson Harmony of the Gospels, (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1988).

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture passages have been taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Additionally, one passage comes from the King James Version. It is so designated.