We need courage to overcome the fear of growing, serving, or reaching out to others in new ways. Courage rises in our hearts out of the combination of fear of God, love for God and neighbors, gratitude, and hope. We can’t gin up courage; it must be nurtured along with all the other affections in our heart, so that it is always at the ready and sufficient for every challenge.

As we fear and obey God, we find Him to be gracious and lavish in His goodness, which leads us to love Him and to give thanks for His mercy and many gifts.

Keeping the heart with all diligence begins in the fear of God and aims at love for God and neighbors as the greatest affection. Thanksgiving is the most practical affection because it is the easiest to engage, and it trains our heart for all the other affections. Giving thanks is God’s will for us, so we should make sure we’re doing this as often as He prescribes.

Fear of God is the first affection which we must diligently guard in our hearts. Love for God and neighbors, however, is the greatest.

We may not like the idea of fearing God, but there’s no way around it. God commands it. Jesus advises it. Paul and the other apostles confirm the importance of it. If we are to press on in the holiness of our Lord Jesus Christ, we must fear the Lord.

In Biblical teaching, the heart refers to that faculty of the soul which manages our affections. The heart works together with the mind and the conscience, in a relationship of mutual interaction, overlap, and cooperation, to bring forth in us the words and deeds that make us who we are.

We have the mind of Christ, but we need to grow into it, so that we can reach maturity in our thinking and live increasingly as true disciples of the Lord.

Of all the forms of culture that have the power to confront us with the mind of Christ, great Christian art is surely the most effective. Yet how many of us have any familiarity with this precious treasure and resource?

Just at the Lord reveals Himself and His mind in His Word, so also does He in His world. In creation and culture, we may discern the glory of God and understand more of how His mind works, so that we may be renewed in our minds more and more.

For the renewing of our minds toward maturity in the mind of Christ, there is no substitute for daily, consecutive reading and study of the Word of God. By reading the Bible through, over and over, and taking time to meditate, reflect, and apply what we’re learning, we lay a solid foundation for continuing growth in the Lord.

The Bible is the Word of Christ. In it He reveals Himself, draws us into the glory of God, and by His Spirit, transforms us into His own image. We need to read the Bible, faithfully and well, so that we can be daily renewed and grow to increasing maturity in the mind of Christ.

Only Jesus Christ can open our minds, so that we begin to grow to maturity in His mind, filled with His Word and Spirit, growing and serving faithfully in the calling to which He has appointed us.