Then one of [the Pharisees], a lawyer, asked [Jesus] a question, testing Him, and saying, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”
Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:35-40)
What did Jesus mean when He said, “On these two commands hang all the Law and the Prophets”?
True spiritual understanding and application of the entire Word of God that is acceptable to Him hangs on or depends on whether or not you continue to love God and love your neighbor.
In addition to loving with all our heart, soul and mind, Mark 12:28-31 states that we are to love God and love our neighbor with all our “strength.” Jesus is saying that we are to love God and love our neighbor with everything we have.
How do we love God with all our mind? Three answers to this question will be addressed here; Ponder truth, concentrate on the truth that is crucial to your life right now and be alert to the doublethink problem.
I. Ponder Truth.
This is something that Jesus did so that by the time He was 12 years old His questions and answers directed at teachers in the temple brought astonishment.
[Joseph and Mary] found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers. (Luke 2:46-47)
If we are going to be like Jesus, we will make it a priority in our life to ponder truth. If we claim we love God, we will ponder truth.
2 John clarifies that above all we must make it a priority to ponder and know the truth of the Person and Work of Christ Jesus. Titus 1:9 teaches that leaders of the church should know the truth as taught by the apostles of Christ to the extent that they are equipped to counter false teachings (cp. Matthew 7:15-21).
II. Concentrate on What Is Crucial to Your Life Right Now.
We love God and our neighbors with all our minds by concentrating on the truth that is especially needful and applicable in our life right now. What is the crucial truth needful for you life right now? As stated above, the truth of Christ Jesus is always crucial and is clearly applicable in your life in your relationship with God and in your relationships with others (Philippians 2:1-12; cp. 3:8-10).
Many other truths may be crucial to your life right now. What particular area of Bible study is important for you to grasp at this time? What truth is of crucial importance in your life right now in order to love God with all your mind? Maybe its the truth related to worry. Or fear. Or forgiveness. (See the related articles about these teachings.)
If we are going to love God and love our neighbor with all our mind we need to concentrate on the truth that is crucial for application in our life right now.
III. Be Alert to the Doublethink Problem
The term doublethink was coined by George Orwell in his book, 1984. According to what he wrote in his novel double thinking is “holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them . . .”
In Orwell's work he presents Winston, one of his characters, and wrote of Winston and what he was thinking about:
[Winston's] mind slid away into the labyrinthine world of doublethink. To know and not to know, to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully-constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two opinions which canceled out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in both of them; to use logic against logic, to repudiate morality while laying claim to it, . . .
When it comes to loving God and loving one's neighbor here is an example of doublethink:
Jesus is my friend but I don't need to be too concerned about obeying His commands. But consider what Jesus said in John 15:10-14. He clarified that you cannot conclude that you love Him or that He is your friend if you are not concerned about obeying His commands.
If we are not making it a priority to take in His teachings from His Word can we really honestly say we are His friends? Or are we guilty of double thinking?
Here is another example of doublethink:
Everlasting life is a gift from God with no strings attached but I have to do more than believe in Christ Jesus to receive it, keep it or know I have it.
It seems to me (and I may be wrong) that there is more double thinking going in this area in Christendom today than in any other area of Bible teaching. But it seems to me that even when people are guilty of doublethink in this important area of Bible teaching, if they have believed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and if they love God with all their heart, soul and strength they are pleasing the Lord and may be storing up reward for eternity. Believers may unknowingly be guilty of doublethink as related to everlasting life and may not be thinking in a manner that is consistent with the biblical teaching. However, the question remains as to whether or not they can truly love God with all their mind if when they are confronted with the truth that corrects their thinking they refuse to admit they were thinking wrongly. God knows their hearts.
None of us think perfectly about truth. It is likely, if not probable, that each and everyone of us is guilty of doublethink in certain areas of our understanding of truth. But if we claim to love God with all our mind we should want to keep on growing in our understanding of the truth of His Word and the application thereof. We should want to avoid the doublethink problem as much as we possibly can.
Keep asking God to bring to your attention any doublethink problem that you may have.
If we love God with all our mind we will ponder truth, concentrate on truth that is especially needful for our life right now and will want to be alert to the doublethink problem.
Keep on crying out to the Lord for the grace to love Him more with all your mind.
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