Loving God with Your Mind— Two2Grow, Thursday, September 24
Loving God with Your Mind— Two2Grow, Thursday, September 24
“Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” Colossians 3:2 NIV
Post by Josephine Stenhammar
I don’t know about you, but my mind likes to think about everything. Oftentimes, I overthink everything. I believe it is easy for us to get stuck in our thoughts and thinking patterns that do not always align with Jesus and his narrow road.
A verse that has helped me is the verse above from Colossians, where Paul writes that we are to set our minds on things above and not on things that are earthly. It might seem simple enough, but it is truly liberating. I believe we can see this verse as an invitation. We are invited to think about God’s things, to get His perspective and look to Him.
It is easy to understand that serving God with our body and strength is honoring God. But we are also called to honor and give glory to God through our thoughts. The thoughts that are only visible to you and God. Jesus states that the most important commandment is to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30). When we set our minds on things above, on Jesus and his Kingdom, we love God through our mind.
But changing our thinking can be difficult, and it does not happen automatically. We need a transformation in ourselves by the Holy Spirit. We need to allow God to renew our minds. And we need to actively check our thinking and change it through the power of the Spirit.
Romans 12:2 tells us not to conform to the world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. We need to stop allowing the pattern of this world to form our thinking and instead open up to God to form our minds.
Here, it is important for us to take our thoughts captive and make sure they are obedient and in line with the kingdom of God (see 2 Corinthians 10:5). One way we can do this is through Scripture. Whenever a thought comes that does not honor God, we can switch it out with a verse. Just like Jesus, when he was tempted resisted temptation by citing Scripture. Or whenever we need to change our thoughts, we can start praying, taking our thoughts to Jesus and asking him to help us. And Jesus will help us.
So, setting our mind on things above is an invitation to come closer to Jesus and become more like him. We are to love God with our thoughts and be renewed in our mind through the power of the Spirit. And we need to actively check our thoughts and make sure that our mind is where it should be.
So today, let us, through the power of the Holy Spirit, follow the verse of Colossians 3:2 and set our minds on things above and not on earthly things.
Lord Jesus, I thank you for your love for me. I pray that you would help me to honor and love you with my mind today. Holy Spirit, show me places in Scripture that can help me change my thinking and help me to stay away from the pattern of this world. I want to set my mind on you. Amen
Post by Josephine Stenhammar
I don’t know about you, but my mind likes to think about everything. Oftentimes, I overthink everything. I believe it is easy for us to get stuck in our thoughts and thinking patterns that do not always align with Jesus and his narrow road.
A verse that has helped me is the verse above from Colossians, where Paul writes that we are to set our minds on things above and not on things that are earthly. It might seem simple enough, but it is truly liberating. I believe we can see this verse as an invitation. We are invited to think about God’s things, to get His perspective and look to Him.
It is easy to understand that serving God with our body and strength is honoring God. But we are also called to honor and give glory to God through our thoughts. The thoughts that are only visible to you and God. Jesus states that the most important commandment is to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30). When we set our minds on things above, on Jesus and his Kingdom, we love God through our mind.
But changing our thinking can be difficult, and it does not happen automatically. We need a transformation in ourselves by the Holy Spirit. We need to allow God to renew our minds. And we need to actively check our thinking and change it through the power of the Spirit.
Romans 12:2 tells us not to conform to the world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. We need to stop allowing the pattern of this world to form our thinking and instead open up to God to form our minds.
Here, it is important for us to take our thoughts captive and make sure they are obedient and in line with the kingdom of God (see 2 Corinthians 10:5). One way we can do this is through Scripture. Whenever a thought comes that does not honor God, we can switch it out with a verse. Just like Jesus, when he was tempted resisted temptation by citing Scripture. Or whenever we need to change our thoughts, we can start praying, taking our thoughts to Jesus and asking him to help us. And Jesus will help us.
So, setting our mind on things above is an invitation to come closer to Jesus and become more like him. We are to love God with our thoughts and be renewed in our mind through the power of the Spirit. And we need to actively check our thoughts and make sure that our mind is where it should be.
So today, let us, through the power of the Holy Spirit, follow the verse of Colossians 3:2 and set our minds on things above and not on earthly things.
Lord Jesus, I thank you for your love for me. I pray that you would help me to honor and love you with my mind today. Holy Spirit, show me places in Scripture that can help me change my thinking and help me to stay away from the pattern of this world. I want to set my mind on you. Amen