hey quest machine. go grab a pen and paper (not a new note on the computer) before you read this, okay? i just got home from sky ranch yesterday and feel so blessed to have gone again- so i've got some random stuff that's not in John 8, but i'm gonna write about it anyways! First off- write down your definition of your mind. Just, what it is to you. Got that down? Okay, now write how you would describe your heart. Did you write it? Gooddd! Now, how do you define your soul? Okay cool. So this random stuff sort of stems from what Cameron had talked to some of us about. He read us this passage-Matthew 22:37 And he said to him "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. Then Cameron asked how do we do that. I challenge anybody who is reading this to try to write 5 ways you are loving God with your heart, 5 ways you are loving God with your mind, and 5 ways you are loving God with your soul. Then write 5 of how you are not loving God with each as well.
Did you manage to get that many? I know I didn't. This is kind of important though, because the next verse in Matthew says, This is the great and first commandment. Meaning, this commandment is GREAT. It's got to be important. I mean, in 1 Corinthians 13:13, it says, So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. Each of those are required for a relationship with God, and I feel like we need to try understand how to fully love God- it's got to be important!
Anyways, I want to love God with all my heart, mind, and soul. Any ways I could avoid not loving Him, and any new ways to love Him would be so awesome- I challenge you to go think for a second about those 5 things. See if you can come up with any more. Then, comment them on. Some may be personal, if you want to share, go ahead, if you want to put down 1 or 10 go ahead! If you write any on this post, keep checking back, and writing more! I think it'd be awesome to just have a long list of ways that we can work on loving our Lord and things that aren't loving towards God.
So. Moving on. How do we love God with our hearts? Well, what is our heart? I know that God can dwell in our hearts [Ephessians 3:17], our heart has our emotions; true desire [Psalm 37:4], true joy [Proverbs 17:22], true trouble [John 14:1]... Our hearts can be deceitful [Jeremiah 17:9], but they can also be pure. [Matthew 5:8] But most of all, God knows the ways of our hearts.[Luke 16:15] He knows exactly where we are in our lives anyways, [Psalms 139 and Jeremiah 29:11], but He knows when you're just going that extra step for somebody so they'll like you and you'll be popular, instead of showing God's love and bringing Him glory. Man, I'm convicted of that. I guess that's one way I wouldn't love God with my heart. My biggest way to love God with all my heart (and if I fail, it's a big one for the not loving God with my heart side), is trying to guard my heart, meaning that God should be number 1 in my life all the time. Well, in John 7:37-39, John writes about Rivers of Living Water. To thirst for Christ is to want to know Him-when you go to Jesus and believe in, trust in, and have a relationship with Him it's like drinking His living water. So, when God is working in you, He's like a river flowing to others. This crossreferences with a verse we read not so long ago- Proverbs 4:23. It was one of my 'theme of the summer verses' along with John 3:27, 3:30 and Psalm 143. But yeah, that verse in Proverbs says- Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. So basically, I think this verse connects in that God has to be in your heart so you can let His river flow to others. The biggest way I don't love God is whenever I have a boyfriend or let someone in to far, and let the trust I should have in God fall on them, I think about them more than God. For me, that leads to temptations and Satan can easily get a foothold in my heart them fumble around just a little and get into my mind. If I keep God my only priority as far as my heart goes, he should be the only thing on my mind.
Next, we've gotta ask how we love God with our minds? How do we not love God with out minds? What does the bible say about loving with your mind? Well, when I think of my mind, I guess I'm thinking! So our mind represents the thoughts we have, images in our brain, things like judging people. God can open our minds to understand new things, like Scripture [Luke 24:45], we change our minds unlike God who doesn't [Numbers 23:19], the Lord can test our minds (and hearts) [Psalms 26:2], our minds can serve the law of God [Romans 7:25], but we don't know God's mind [Romans 11:34]. So, I sort of thought of our minds like eyes after reading Luke 24:45 and 2 Corinthians 4:4. In Luke it talks about how God opens our eyes, and in 2 Corinthians how the god of this world, Satan, closes our minds and blinds unbelievers to keep them from the Word. So, if we know God's law (New Testament+10 Commandments), and obey it, that's one way to love God through our minds. Romans 8:5 says For those who live according to the flesh, set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their mind on the things of the Spirit. To me, this verse showed me a way to love God with my mind- by keeping my mind on God at all times. I was talking to Madi G today and she told me about how someone told her something really wise about how Satan attacks us through our minds so easily. In cults, they avoid evil thoughts by thinking, hypothetically, on a straight line. If they swerve, they're wrong. But God gave us free will, He didn't intend us to be robots and not strive to learn more about Him. But sometimes, just letting my mind wander isn't a good thing. I think the mind of a believer should look like a rectangle. We can think inside the box, but when we start overthinking, and thinking of sinful things, thats going outside of the boundaries God gave us. For me, I always have music in my head. Typically, on lyric from a song bounces around over and over again then it changes. Some music I've heard before doesn't evoke pure images or thoughts in my mind, so I decided instead of listening to music that talks about sins, I started trying only to listen to worship and clean wholesome music these past couple days. Instead of having some dirty lyric bouncing around stuck in my head, I think about worshipping Christ. That leads me to think about Him. It sounds kind of strange but it's been working and I suggest tryin it out for a couple days and see how much better your mind feels.
So. This is the hardest for me. What is our soul? How do we love God with it? How is it different from our heart and mind? Okay. So first off. Our soul is eternal. That's how it's different. It lasts FOREVER. Think on that word for a second. In Matthew 10:28 we are warned And do not fear those who kill the obdy but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. That's something I can't grasp- I don't think we as humans were intended to be able to understand eternity. But, anyways, more on the soul- it can be cast down [Psalm 42:4], it can long for something [Psalm 84:2], it needs rest [Jeremiah 6:16], it can be saved [James 1:21], and it can be purified [1 Peter 1:22]. So there's a pretty vague description, but 1 Peter 4:19 tells of how those who suffer can entrust God with their souls- Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good. Anyways, I guess I still haven't figured out how to love God with my soul. I feel like it's different from your spirit, but I don't really know. In fact, have no idea! Maybe loving God with our souls is proclaiming our love for Him. I know there's stuff about the spirit speaking through tongues, but it's controversial, and I don't want to post something about it and say something wrong since I don't know much about it. So I'll wrap up the soul part with a question i've been wondering about and would love feedback on- Are our souls part of our minds, while our minds part of our hearts, and hearts part of our souls since we don't really know where any of them are and how to really completely define each?
So I guess this wraps up my thing. I'd appreciate it if you typed up your 5 ways to love God on each topic. Or just any amount on any of them. I'm ready for input, feedback, and more knowledge on this entire subject so please comment about anything on this.
Thanks for reading! Much love & peace.
in Him, [John 3:30]
evi
Hey Evi, great post!
ReplyDeleteI don't want to try to argue or anything, but this is what I think a soul is.
First off, I completely agree that your soul is eternal. That much I'm sure of. But there's not much more description of what a soul is in the Bible. It tells what your soul can do, but not what it is. So, after searching around my Bible and looking through a couple study Bibles, this is what I've come to think of a soul. I think your soul is what makes you, you. Everyone has one, but it gives them traits that makes them a person. The soul is a very personal version of you. Like, it's personal on a whole new level. But another thing is that the soul, I guess you would say, attaches, or bonds yourself to other people. Like, let's use Wallace and I as an example. We're friends, but we don't have any attachment, or we don't know each other very deeply. On the other hand, there's Madi and Lila. They know each other, they share so much. And I think that their souls have a bond that gives them that incredible friendship. And I think that's what it means to love God with your soul. That means that you need to know God through His word and through prayer. And starting to know Him and wanting to know Him builds that bond between you. And when you strive like that, that's when you start to love God with your soul.
That's what I think. That could be completely wrong. I don't know. But that's how I see it.