[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]The first great commandment of Jesus is to love God with all out heart,soul and mind. Will any mind do? Does it matter the type of mind that can love God? For loving God requires our absolute faith in Him despite the earthly elements surrounding us. Our absolute faith in God includes us either adhering to the Laws given us in the Old Testament, or abiding by the second great commandment of Jesus, which is to love eachother as we love ourselves. And no one who has faith in God would hate oneself, inasmuch as Psalm 139:14 says, “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.”[/FONT]
Canwe expect someone who is not acting rationally, or who acts in amanner that threatens the innocent people around them, or who iswithered by depression and phobias to love others as a rationalperson would love themselves?... The Bible directs a lot of ourattention to our mind and our thinking process.
1Peter 5:8 says, Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary thedevil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.Recall that in the Book of Job, God asks Satan “From where have youcome?”...to which Satan replies, “From going to and fro on theearth, and from walking up and down on it.” In this regard, Satancan be compared to a leopard who is on the hunt for its meal and whoroams about a herd of prey, looking for the weakest animal to killand devour. In that regard, Satan, who is ever looking to underminethe Lord, is on the prowl for those who are weak in faith and whowould succumb to his will, thereby turning away from God. It is hardto be so watchful when our irrationality, depression and phobias getthe best of us.
Wetherefore strive to have what the Bible would consider as a soundmind, and if some are incapable at any moment of having a sound mindso as to make themselves incapable of striving for such, then we, outof love for them as we, would love ourselves, would step in to helpthem in some way. For as the Bible infers, it is a sound mind who isup to abiding by either the law of the Old Testament, or the twogreat commandments of Jesus. That is not to say that God, by hisgrace and by His reasoning that we may not be aware of, would notgrant grace to those who are not as mentally strong as others...butthe Bible, by addressing the issue of our minds, represents that wewho are of sound mind are better focused on the things in which Godwould grant us His Grace.
Andas God first created one individual, we are all accountable to God asindividuals. We will not be condemned because of the sins of others,and others will not be condemned because of our sins...In that regardit is up to each of us to hone our own mind so we may distinguishbetween good and the evil that is in this world.
So,Romans 12:2-3 says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but betransformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you maydiscern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable andperfect.” And we ask God in Psalm 51:10 to Create in us a cleanheart and to renew the right spirit in us.
Andour unconditional full faith in God will keep our mind tempered andstrong, to resist the evil around us, telling it to be gone, inasmuchas James 4:7 says, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist thedevil, and he will flee from you.”
Canwe expect someone who is not acting rationally, or who acts in amanner that threatens the innocent people around them, or who iswithered by depression and phobias to love others as a rationalperson would love themselves?... The Bible directs a lot of ourattention to our mind and our thinking process.
1Peter 5:8 says, Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary thedevil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.Recall that in the Book of Job, God asks Satan “From where have youcome?”...to which Satan replies, “From going to and fro on theearth, and from walking up and down on it.” In this regard, Satancan be compared to a leopard who is on the hunt for its meal and whoroams about a herd of prey, looking for the weakest animal to killand devour. In that regard, Satan, who is ever looking to underminethe Lord, is on the prowl for those who are weak in faith and whowould succumb to his will, thereby turning away from God. It is hardto be so watchful when our irrationality, depression and phobias getthe best of us.
Wetherefore strive to have what the Bible would consider as a soundmind, and if some are incapable at any moment of having a sound mindso as to make themselves incapable of striving for such, then we, outof love for them as we, would love ourselves, would step in to helpthem in some way. For as the Bible infers, it is a sound mind who isup to abiding by either the law of the Old Testament, or the twogreat commandments of Jesus. That is not to say that God, by hisgrace and by His reasoning that we may not be aware of, would notgrant grace to those who are not as mentally strong as others...butthe Bible, by addressing the issue of our minds, represents that wewho are of sound mind are better focused on the things in which Godwould grant us His Grace.
Andas God first created one individual, we are all accountable to God asindividuals. We will not be condemned because of the sins of others,and others will not be condemned because of our sins...In that regardit is up to each of us to hone our own mind so we may distinguishbetween good and the evil that is in this world.
So,Romans 12:2-3 says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but betransformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you maydiscern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable andperfect.” And we ask God in Psalm 51:10 to Create in us a cleanheart and to renew the right spirit in us.
Andour unconditional full faith in God will keep our mind tempered andstrong, to resist the evil around us, telling it to be gone, inasmuchas James 4:7 says, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist thedevil, and he will flee from you.”