In an effort at low humor and self-deprecation, I have said things to the effect of not having deep thoughts or not a lot going on in my mind (if I have one at all). While I say these things to remind myself that I am not as smart as I think I am, they could easily be misconstrued as saying that thinking is not an important part of the Christian’s life. Nothing could be further from the truth. Some have wrongly suggested that faith involves leaving one’s brain / mind at the door, but that is not a biblical concept of faith. Faith is not believing in something in spite of the evidence or despite well-reasoned arguments. True faith is believing in the facts—the facts of Christ’s birth, death, burial, and resurrection.

Jesus thought that thinking was so important that He added the word “mind” to the normal Shema saying from Deuteronomy when He quoted it as, “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:30, ESV) Part of loving God is using your mind to think right thoughts about God, yourself, and all of reality. While so many want to relegate the faith to mere feelings, living in truth means thinking deeply on the the things of God as given to us in Scripture.

But we do not merely think philosophically, but we allow the Holy Spirit through Scripture to develop a specific kind of mind in us—the Mind of Christ. Paul tells us to have the same mindset as Christ (Philippians 2:5) because through salvation we have been given the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16). But this mind needs to be developed through prayerful thinking and meditation upon God’s Word, and then our minds are renewed and we are transformed and we are able to find God’s will (Romans 12:2).