Lately I’ve been posting about our love for the Lord. My last one was about having an undecaying love for Him. It’s taken from what Jesus said to His disciples.
“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 NIV
Today, I want to look at the second part of this verse. It’s another “thruster” that keeps our love for God from decaying.
I must love God with all my mind. This is an important concept to understand. If you remember from last time, our mind is the storage area for everything we’ve experienced. Because of this, we use our mind to sort everything out.
However, this verse uses a special word for mind. Jesus is not just talking about our surface thinking. This is speaking about our deep thinking.
Sometimes we say, “I’ll think about it.” But, what we actually mean is, “No, I don’t care about it.”
Other times we say, “I need to think this through.” That’s the word for mind used in this verse. It’s the place in our soul where we think things through.
Actually, the devil wants to keep us from deep thinking. He’s constantly trying to keep us looking for entertainment and amusement. The word, a-muse-ment literally means not thinking. If he can keep us busy, busy, busy, we’ll never think through our love for God.
The Bible says a lot about this area. Apart from Christ, our mind is a very dark place. This is why we must meditate on God’s Word. It brings light to our thinking. As we meditate, God writes His laws in us.
Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.
1 Peter 1:13 NIV
This verse literally says to gird the loins of your deep thinking. Wait a minute, I’ve heard that before in Scripture! In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul talks about the armor of God. With the very first piece – the belt of truth – he says to gird your loins with truth.
I believe that he’s talking about our minds. I’ve set my direction toward God. Am I willing to lay everything down for Him? If so, now I must think deeply about His truth and its affect on my life. That’s the belt that holds everything else on.
Next, Jesus said that I must love God with all my strength. This is the Greek word that means force. First of all, we must understand the difference between force and power.
Power is the capability to do something. It can be passive. A house can have power, yet be dark and cold inside. Nothing is plugged into the power. It’s like many Christians – they have the power of the Holy Spirit, but they’re not plugged in.
Force has direction and magnitude. When force is applied, something happens. Water boils, a baseball moves at 90mph, a bullet shoots, or a car moves.
I need to love God with all my force. Not just, “I love God in my heart”. Because even if that is true, you’re only one-quarter of the way to an undecaying love.
This is the “showing love” part of the equation. This is how you put your force into it.
I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms…
Ephesians 1:18-20 NIV
When Christ plugged into the power, the force that was released raised Him from the dead. The effect of this force is resurrection power. But, more incredible than that, we’re told…
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
Ephesians 6:10 NIV
We’re told here to be endued with power – to plug into His power. In that way you can operate in His mighty force. This is the same force that raised Christ from the dead. Now this power can be used to show your love for God. Then it can be a truly undecaying love.
We must do what it takes to draw from His power to keep our love for Him in orbit. Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.
Question: How well do you operate in this power to love the Lord?
© 2026 Nick Zaccardi
The Spirit and the Word 