Deut 6:5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind
When Jesus was asked the question, “What is the greatest commandment,” He responded with a quote from the Law of God given to Moses in Deuteronomy 6:5. Loving God with heart and soul is repeated. But in Deuteronomy, it says to love God with all your might. In Matthew, it says to love God with all your mind. What is the correlation between the use of the terms, “might”, and “mind?” The word might indicates strength or power. Mind is the process of thought.
Proverbs 23:7 says, “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.” Words, or profession, are not a person's substance, but what he thinks in his heart. The passion and emotion of a man will be formed in the thought process. Mere words of adoration or love for Christ are not enough. How we think about Christ will begin to form our worship and the service of love we give to the Lord. Paul spends a great deal of time discussing how we are to think, and how we are not to think. He also frames spiritual warfare around the thought life. The defensive fortresses of Satan are described as the imaginations, lack of knowledge of Christ, and an undisciplined mind of wayward thoughts in 2 Corinthians 10:4-5.
Luk_6:45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good, and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. Sincere speech will reflect the heart. Just as personality can only hide character for a period of time, so to our speech can cover up the reality of our heart for a period of time. The question remains, what does this have to do with extremism? I believe what is given to us in these two verses supplies the equation for Christian extremism and radicalism. Jesus says, in Matthew, this is the greatest commandment. As a matter of fact, He went on to say that you can hang all the law and the prophets on this simple command to love God in a radical and extreme way and love each other.
This radical view will come through the acknowledgment of the power of the mind. There is a relationship between the word might in the Old Testament and the word mind in the New Testament. It's not the power of positive thinking, but the power of the mind by the manifestation of the love of God flowing out of our lives. So then, the power of thought forms our speech, our behavior towards one another, and our worship of God.
We need extreme and radical people with a genuine love for God that flows in abundance out of us. We need extreme people to follow the Lord in obedience because our minds are constantly fixed on Christ. Isa_26:3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
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