When we come up with a great idea, we often point our finger at our brain as if to say, “Something important is going on up here.” Although the mind plays an important role in the process, thinking only with our brain is shallow and dangerous. Let me explain.
We usually assume that we love with our hearts and we think with our minds. However, the word of God teaches us that it is not quite that simple.
Let’s talk first about love. You probably never told your sweetheart that you loved her with all your liver. Or that she would always have a special place in your pancreas. Of course not; we all know that love comes from the heart. We even give little heart-shaped symbols on Valentine’s Day. Yet the word of God teaches us that heart-based love alone is inadequate. It is a single-dimensional love unlikely to weather the storms of life. A young lover may say, “My heart tells me she is the one.” Sorry, but that is not good enough. Your mind and your spirit must also agree that she is the one. Since we are commanded to love God, it is quite natural that He would give us the exact formula for the best kind of love.
“And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.” Mark 12:30
There are days your love feels divided into pieces, scattered across a hundred demands, and you wonder whether any part of you has enough left to give to God. You find yourself tired, distracted, and pulled thin. Then you hear it. The greatest thing ever asked of you is also the simplest and the most whole. This is the recipe for complete love, and we already all have the resources to accomplish it. I have a heart, a soul, a mind, and even a little strength. Therefore, Christ has enabled me to love God with the kind of love that pleases Him.
"Heart" represents the control center of human emotions; "soul" is the spiritual side of man; "mind" refers to our mental, reasoning, and intellectual capacity; and "strength" refers to the power available to us. These are the sources from which love for God should flow. Do you see the spokes of the wagon wheel of real love? With all of our strength, we should will to love God with all our emotions (desires), minds (thoughts and decisions), and bodies (actions). So, "heart…soul…and mind" cover every aspect of our personalities, being, and thoughts, as well as everything that influences our feelings, beliefs, desires, and intentions. "Strength" means force, power, and ability. This refers to the effort and passion with which we love God. Whereas the heart, soul, and mind direct how we feel and what we do, might is the force that determines the extent to which we do so.
So, we see that we must love God with our whole being. Since, as believers, we should already be loving God, this commandment doesn’t seem that unreasonable, although we often fall short. This verse encourages us to gather our heart, soul, mind, and strength into one offering. We do not manufacture this love on our own; we return it to the God who loved us first. This is not just a duty; it's a doorway. A doorway to a deeper, more vibrant relationship with God. He already loves us with a boundless, all-encompassing love. Jesus has already proven that by giving His all for us by coming to this earth and dying on the cross. Our response should be to love Him back with everything we have and everything we are.
So, we have discovered that we don’t just love with our hearts but also with our souls and minds, and that we do so with all the strength we have.
Now, Let’s talk about how to think. We assumed wrongly that we only love with our hearts. Likewise, we assume that we only think with our minds, with our brains. Yet, we learn from the word of God that there is more to it than that.
“For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.” Proverbs 23:7
Thinking with your heart sounds weak and emotional. Husbands may sometimes even advise their wives not to think with their hearts. However, there is a place for heart-thinking. Actually, I believe the process of thinking is just like the formula for loving. This is multi-dimensional thinking. This is deep thinking. You think with your heart, your soul, your mind, and you do so with all your strength. Multidimensional thinking is a cognitive approach that moves beyond what may seem like logical reasoning. It keeps you from making foolish assumptions.
Again, as one spoke in a wheel, it is dangerous to just think with your heart, because it does often lead to emotional decisions.
As we know, life is a lot about choices. Decisions are of many types and have many aspects. We constantly go through them, one decision after another, often failing to realize that the way we make them shapes who we are. Every decision leads to consequences. Actually, your whole life is a reflection of the stack of decisions you have made and the consequences you have faced. Many times, rather than calling them gains or losses, you should call them consequences. This may be why some people have trouble making decisions in the first place. Yet, in many things, God has given you the power to decide. Furthermore, deciding itself is a power, a power of influence over our lives and the lives of others. When facing a hard decision, so hard that we would prefer not to have to choose, we tend to forget that this choice is a gift. We also fail to see that making a choice demonstrates the power and free will God has given us.
So, we must learn to think with our heart, soul, and mind, and the more complex the decision, the greater strength God grants us to make the right choice. Again, do you see the spokes in the wheel? This is multi-dimensional decision-making. This is what deep thinking is all about. It is the process of making a decision based on the unified consensus of the heart, soul, and mind. Let’s think of some examples from the Bible of people who may have used this principle to arrive at a decision. Look at these examples where the heart, soul, mind, and strength were all at work.
Abraham and Isaac (Genesis 22): God commanded Abraham to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice. Abraham had to make a decision. His heart was torn between his love for Isaac and his greater love for God; his heart chose to obey God. His soul, the spiritual side of him, knew that earthly life was temporary anyway, and it made sense to trust God. His mind contemplated that God could work things out. He even contemplated that God could raise Isaac from the dead. In all this, we see his strength of heart, soul, and mind.
Esther’s Plea (Esther 4): Queen Esther had to decide whether to approach the king uninvited to save her Jewish people. This choice carried a death penalty unless the king extended his scepter. Her heart was obviously broken over the trials of her Jewish people. Her soul knew that Mordecai’s message was from God, and with her mind she carefully weighed out all the possibilities and determined the best time to approach the king.
Moses Leaving Egypt (Exodus 2): Moses chose to abandon his life of comfort, privilege, and power as an Egyptian prince to suffer alongside his enslaved Hebrew people. His heart was naturally drawn to his people. His soul accepted the calling that God had given him to go before Pharaoh. His mind pondered the various ways he would approach the king, deal with his weakness, and lead his people.
Mary of Nazareth (Luke 1): Mary had to choose whether to accept the socially ruinous and dangerous reality of a miraculous pregnancy as an unwed young girl. Mary was a clear example of someone who pondered or thought with her heart. We also see her tender soul, or spirit, being one with the Spirit of God as she accepts her mission. Yet we also see her mind at work during her visit with Elizabeth, later as she follows Joseph’s leadership, and in dozens of other ways.
Example: Here is a lazy man; he will not work, refuses to tithe on what little income he has, and comes to me for money to buy food for his family. So, I weigh it out. Sluggards should not eat. The Bible is clear on that. Plus, non-tithers are financially robbing God and will be judged for their lack of obedience. So, do I help him? My mind initially says “no.” He is already under a financial curse; if I give him money, he will likely rob even more from God, putting him under greater judgment. My mind says it would not be in his interest to give him money.
Then my spirit speaks up and reminds me that although I am under no specific obligation to give him money, I certainly have the liberty to give food even to my enemies. So, perhaps I should consider some form of help.
Then my heart enters the picture and reminds me that he has children and a wife who are also suffering. Now, being convicted, I go back to my mind, specifically the mind of Christ, with the things my heart and spirit have revealed to me. Now, with my heart, soul, and mind in agreement, I ask my Heavenly Father for permission to help, for strength to help, and for guidance as to how to help specifically. Which means I will probably give his family food instead of money while trying to find him some work to do, if he is willing. That is deep thinking. It is multi-dimensional thinking. Again, do you see the spokes in the wheel?
I understand that life is often about the uncertainty of choices. The reality is that it is impossible to predict the consequences of most choices fully. We can work on complex decisions as much as we want; yet still making a choice will almost always involve taking a risk. Even if you obey God like the Apostle Paul, it doesn’t mean you won’t end up in jail. It is often wise to anticipate potential consequences as much as possible.
However, if you think it through completely, then you can accept any consequences of your decisions. Whenever you face unwanted consequences from a good choice, there is nothing else to do but accept them and move forward, focusing on what you can still control.
Conclusion: Choices, decisions, and consequences are things we all face in our relationships and our lives. However, all of these come more easily when you learn to love and think more deeply. If Sherry says to me: “I love God the most, but beyond that I love you from the deepest part of my heart.” I could rightly reply, “Is that all? I don’t want some crummy tidbits of love from your heart. I want you to love me with your mind and with your spirit also.”
Life is a maze of endless choices, and every choice we make either takes us closer or farther away from where God wants us to be. So, it is best if we learn to do some deep loving and some deep thinking.
