God doesn’t want churches to be incubators where spiritual babies are kept passive, inactive, and dependent on religious programs. God the Father wants His children to be led by His Spirit (Romans 8:14) so they can be empowered as witnesses for Jesus (Acts 1:8) and make disciples around the world. (Matthew 28:18)
Staying in a religious incubator won’t make you a disciple! Every Christ-follower is responsible for nurturing and growing his or her relationship with Jesus. No one else can do it.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is good news that gladdens and transforms the heart. It’s about an eternal, supernatural change in perspective and lifestyle. It’s not just about theological analysis of God that merely satisfies a curious mind.
A powerful reason many believers remain in spiritual incubators is because they never begin to take responsibility for the renewal of their own mind. Instead of being personally led by the Holy Spirit by daily absorbing and living by the Bible’s teachings, they rely on merely listening to a religious professional’s beliefs and opinions.
Jesus said that the greatest commandment is: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” We can understand how to love God with all our heart, soul, and strength; but how do we love Him with all our mind? How can we “be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Romans 12:2)
Loving God with all your mind doesn’t mean merely analyzing and systematizing Him. It’s not just accumulating information about Him. It isn’t only the intellectual pursuit of theology. It’s not about studying the Bible like a textbook. It’s about disciplining your mind to align with His will as revealed in the Bible.
To love God with all your mind is to renew your mind by surrendering your thinking to the Holy Spirit’s moment-by-moment leading as it aligns with the Bible’s teaching. It is allowing God to align all your thoughts to His will instead of your own.
Loving God with all your mind is a constant mental battle. It is to “fight the good fight of faith.” It is “bringing every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” It is keeping your mental focus on loving God more and more.
