For many Christians the mind is not something they really think about because the emphasis is on the spiritual  and the experiential. There seems to be a fear of using the mind, this probably comes from seeing a dead orthodoxy that says all the right things but has no life to it. Some impose such a system on Christians that you would think that we all need theological degrees to get into heaven!! The fact that some abuse the mind should not cause us to avoid thinking and using our mind in submission to God. For the Apostle Paul there was no dichotomy between spirituality and deep thinking rather the two go hand in hand. Romans 12 shows this very clearly,

12 Therefore I exhort you, brothers, through the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, so that you may approve what is the good and well-pleasing and perfect will of God.

. The Lexham English Bible (Rom 12:1–2).

12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

The New International Version. (2011). (Rom 12:1–2)

Here we see that true worship is reasonable it is connected to the reality of who God is, this leads to the renewal of the mind as it is submitted to God. True worship includes the use of the mind it stimulates to think about who our God is, the wonder of his grace and the wisdom of his commands. True worship transforms our thinking about the world, God and ourselves. As we allow our minds to be transformed by God’s word, we will humbled by the glory and grace of God. Godly thinking has no place for pride because it sees the sinful state of mankind and the holiness of God. Godly thinking knows that salvation is all of grace,and wants to glorify the giver of that grace. The Bible gives us so much to think about if we spent more time thinking God’s thoughts after him our lives would be transformed. This passage reminds us that as we allow our minds to be transformed we will be able to know what god’s will is for us. So often in the matter of guidance we want God to give us a sign so we don’t have to think things through. Sometimes he gives us a sign to make us think things through. God wants us to use our minds not switch them off.

We need to see that as we allow our minds to be transformed by God, this will cause us to grow in our faith. This is the path to knowing more about the Lord and his will for us. We need to understand more clearly what Christ did when gave himself for us, but this comes through carefully studying the word of God. We say, at times that we want to be led by the Holy Spirit, if this is true why do we not seek to understand the book he inspired?  And to see that this book is able to equip us to lead a godly life in the power of the Holy Spirit.

So often we do not grow in our faith because we will not use our minds, this leads to superficiality and immaturity. I know people who have been Christians for many years and yet have not progressed beyond the basics.There does seem to be a fear of using the mind, because people don’t want the subject matter to get too heavy. This is used to dismiss any discussion that goes a little more deeply into God’s word. I believe that this fear of going more deeply into God’s word causes many Christians to be malnourished in their faith. What we need are people that will disciple others to lead them into the riches of God’s word so that they will grow in their faith.

The Word of God is the means to seeing that our minds get transformed and there are so many wonderful tools available to us, that enable us to dig more deeply into it.

Will you allow your mind to be transformed and to use it for the glory of God?