Scripture Reading
Let’s go to the Great Commandment, which we’ve been talking about for the last three weeks. Jesus is speaking here:
“‘The most important one,’ answered Jesus, ‘is this: Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.'”
I’ve just kept thinking: if Jesus said this was most important, don’t you think we should be thinking about it the most? I mean, this scripture has caused us to ask over the last three weeks: In week one, how do I love God with all of my heart? Last week, how do I love God with all of my soul, and how is that different than my heart? Today is all about: How do we love God with all of our minds?
The Discipline of Single-Mindedness
In your notes here today, single-mindedness is going to be the word of the day. To be single-minded means to have one desire that exceeds all others—one goal, one focus. I’ve got to warn you that single-mindedness requires action. You end up doing certain things if you’re striving to love God with all of your mind. To get everybody ready, I just want you to turn to the person you came with and say, “Don’t distract me today, I’m working on my single-mindedness!”
You see, Jesus was the greatest storyteller, and one of His most famous sermons we know to be the Sermon on the Mount. At the end of the Sermon on the Mount, we find that He ends up telling this story—this vivid word picture:
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
How many of you have lived long enough to know that there are people who take action and there are people who choose inaction? I believe that I’m speaking to people today who want to take action with their spiritual life—who want to be wise, not foolish.
So when it comes to loving God with all of our mind, what are we supposed to do? The first thing is we go to Scripture, we take action, and we read our Bibles. There are many things that the Bible says about our minds and about our thought life:
- In Proverbs: “Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts.” I need that reminder every single day.
- Philippians 4:8: “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” I ask again: Do you think about what you think about? Do your daily thoughts fit into these categories? Do you ever check yourself at noontime and then check again later on at night: What did I think about today?
- Romans 12:2: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Another translation says: “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.” It’s that important to God.
The Current of Cultural Distraction
Now you might be sitting there and saying, “Okay, I get it, Pastor. I understand. My mind, my thoughts—they’re important. I need to focus on God more, but I just get so distracted!” And that is the point! The problem, the tension with all of us, is distraction. We want to take action, but then comes distraction. Are you familiar with that struggle?
This week, while trying to write a message on distraction, I got more distracted than I had ever been! Last summer, our family went to the Miramichi to go tubing on the river. It was a beautiful day—warm sun shining down, laying on the tube, fingers and toes in the cool water. In some places, the river is a little deeper, so you can roll out of your tube and float down the river if you want. When you’re on the tube, it didn’t seem like we were moving fast at all—I was like, “Oh man, we’re Linux-slow! How many hours are we stuck out here?” But then I rolled out of the tube on a deeper part and tried to find my footing on a rock to stand. When I did, I realized just how strong the current actually was! I couldn’t hold my balance.
I share that illustration with you because the culture of distraction that we swim in all day long is stronger than you and I realize. Without strong resistance, without the proper focus, without thinking about what we think about, we will float down the river—dragged along by a cultural current that pulls us toward the pattern of this world.
What is the pattern of this world? Three things:
- A distracted mind: Where there’s not enough time to focus on loving God, His ways, and His purposes—the most important things.
- A troubled mind: Confused by a lack of purpose (“Why am I actually here?”) and confused by identity (“Who am I?”).
- A selfish mind: Where God is crowded out.
I brought two chairs out here just to illustrate: the driver’s seat and the passenger seat. We said last week how easy it is to sit in that driver’s seat and be completely selfish. But don’t ever assume that if you’re sitting in that selfish seat, God is sitting in the passenger seat. No, no, no—the selfish driver hasn’t even invited God into the car! There is next to no thought about God being relevant at all in the pattern of this world.
Three Requirements of Single-Mindedness
So for those very reasons, what we need is single-mindedness. It’s a spiritual discipline that takes action. If your desire is to love God with all of your mind, here are three essential practices:
1. Single-mindedness requires knowing your Heavenly Father.
How you view God shapes how you think about everything else. I was trying to figure out how to illustrate this, and I thought back to when I went to Sunday school in the basement as a kid. The songs weren’t very good back then—there was no band, just an elderly lady with a high-pitched voice singing a cappella. As I was writing my message, a children’s church classic overwhelmed my mind:
“O be careful little feet where you go… For the Father up above is looking down below, so be careful little feet where you go!”
Now, there’s a little bit of controversy over those words. Somebody once pointed out to me, “That’s not actually the right message. It should be: For the Father up above is looking down with love!”
Did you catch the difference? There’s a huge difference between those two perspectives! The first one makes it sound like God is up above just waiting for you to do something bad—a God of judgment whose number one priority is catching your mistakes. The second perspective reveals a Father looking down with love. The difference in thought is significant, and it builds how you view your Heavenly Father. Does He lead with judgment, or does He lead with love? I hope you know your Heavenly Father to be One who leads with love. There is a time for God to pass judgment, but He leads with love. To love God with all your mind, you need to know who you’re actually focusing on.
2. Single-mindedness requires you to fight an internal battle.
Why must we manage our minds? Because our mind is the battleground for sin. It’s where you and I are either going to win or lose the battle with pride, lust, bitterness, hatred, anger, fear, resentment, and envy. These sins take root in our minds, and then they affect our behavior.
Paul articulately explains how he felt amidst this battle in Romans 7:
“I love to do God’s will so far as my new nature is concerned. But there’s something else deep within me that is at war in my mind and wins the fight and makes me a slave to the sin within me. In my mind I want to be God’s servant, but instead I find myself enslaved to sin.”
If the Apostle Paul struggled with that battle, you better believe you and I are going to struggle with it too! One of the reasons you may feel mentally fatigued is that there’s a battle going on 24 hours a day in your mind.
Another children’s song came to my mind this week: “I may never march in the infantry, ride in the cavalry, shoot the artillery… I’m in the Lord’s army! Yes, sir!” That song sounds intense for kids, but the truth is our enemy is the father of lies. He is a roaring lion getting ready to pounce and destroy, and he doesn’t wait until you’re 18 to attack! We are in a fight, and our children and teenagers are in a battle for their hearts, their souls, and their minds. Your mind is your greatest asset, and Satan wants a foothold. He wants to control it, tell lies, and distort the truth. Whatever gets your focus gets you!
3. Single-mindedness requires you to focus.
What do we focus on? Three things:
- Focus on Jesus: You become what you think about most. If you think about Jesus most, you start to emulate Him and develop the mind of Christ. Hebrews 12:1–2 says: “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.”
- Focus on others: Philippians 2:4 says: “Don’t look only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” Realize how countercultural that is—to actually care about somebody else instead of remaining in the driver’s seat of selfishness!
- Focus on eternity: There is more than just the here and now. Colossians 3:2 says: “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” Let heaven fill your thoughts.
Ultimately, here is the filter you should run your thoughts through daily: Are my thoughts hurting me, or are they healing me?
The Promise of Peace
Why does God actually want us to love Him with all of our heart, soul, and mind? Because there are two great gifts He has for us:
- Abundant Life: He wants the very best for us.
- Peace: What a gift in this world to have a peaceful mind—one that isn’t distracted, troubled, or selfish!
Who can offer and promise us that kind of peace? One of the prophetic names given to the baby in the manger was the Prince of Peace. He is the One who promises you peace.
Closing Challenge: Pray, Pause, Praise
No matter what situation you are in, when you turn your focus to God, use these three simple steps:
- Pray: Talk to God and bring your situation to Him.
- Pause: Don’t just say “Amen” and rush away. Stop and listen—God might just want to speak back to you!
- Praise: Fill your mind with worship, truth, and scripture to guard your thought life against cultural distractions.
Pre-plan what you’re going to listen to and think about. It will change your heart, your soul, and your mind when the right input starts coming in. Pray, pause, and praise.
