Reflections on Loving God with Our Minds: Part 4

In Part 3, I claimed that one of God’s interests was a restoration of the broken relationship between himself and human beings. In fact, one of God’s prime interests is human beings in and of themselves for they are his image-bearers. Of all creation, humans, and only humans, are given the privilege and responsibility to bear God’s image. God’s love for them is intense. I believe this is the reason that the command Jesus singled out as the greatest is two-fold. We are to love God and humans. But that is not all. To love humans, God’s image-bearers, is equated with loving God. The two directives to love God and humans are not to be taken as separate. I also think that the expectation Jesus has in pointing out our requirement to love our “neighbors” is that, like our love for God, it is also to be done with all one’s heart, soul, and mind. Therefore, loving my neighbor means, among other things, to seek out his or her best interests with the rigorous employment of all my mental powers.

To love God with my mind requires me to love my neighbor (by the way, my “neighbor” includes my enemies as well; Luke 10: 25-37) with my mind. What are some specific ways I can love my “neighbor” with my mind?