No Evil Thinking
Scripture Reading - 1 Corinthians 13:4-5 Literal Translation of the Holy Bible (LITV)
4 Love has patience, is kind; love is not envious; love is not vain, is not puffed up;
5 does not behave indecently, does not pursue its own things, is not easily provoked, thinks no evil;
Today we will explore one of the many positive attributes of Love. In verse 4 we read the subject of the writing is Love. Of course, we never should think of Love being something (like an emotion) but rather someone (a spirit). Yes, the exact Spirit we are speaking of is God because according to 1 John 4:16 God is Love. Knowing that God is Love gives us a better understanding of why we are saved. It is definitely not because of your own personal good works but rather solely the goodness and grace of our awesome Father God and His Precious Son Jesus Christ. This brings to mind the subject of today’s lesson because God, who is Love, “doesn’t think evil” therefore He cannot be easily provoked and that brings out the Loving Kindness of the Lord. When we (ihlcc) mention that Love “thinks no evil” many church goers will say, “Amen!” Yes, we would venture to say, a large percentage of Christians who agree that “God doesn’t think evil” if you read this statement in the context of all the other positive aspects of God’s Love. However, we wish to go a little deeper because God is typically not the problem when it comes to the affairs of man. Basic Holy Bible study reveals to us that everything God is Satan is not. Therefore if God “doesn’t think evil” Satan must “think evil” all the time. The problem is starting to become more obvious because we all should know that Satan is the evil one and evil thoughts are byproducts of his evil nature. Now on that foundation let us speak briefly of how he (the evil one) operates to influence people to “think evil” about one another. Certainly according to St. John 13:34 we have a new commandment that states, “That we love one another; as I (Jesus, God) have loved you, that you also love one another”. Just to emphasize the point the Lord Jesus repeated twice that we should love each other. This basically means that “we should not think evil” of each other. Now, “not thinking evil” of another person sounds good in principle and we know in our heart it is right. However walking in Love by “not thinking evil” of people is very challenging indeed. We (ihlcc) have tried to practice this aspect of “no evil thinking” for years and found it to be a formidable challenge. Why? Simply because the nature of the flesh is prone to “think evil” and this natural desire to accuse people shows us that many people in the world today “think evil” all the time and they “think evil” without any reservations. For example, how many times have you heard sport announcers say something negative about an athlete when the athlete wasn’t talking to them. The real tragedy is that many people listening to the announcer would rather hear some filthy negative gossip (garbage) about a person than a good or kind word about that same individual. How many times does this negative thinking get exposed when it comes to TV stars although we know many actors can become corrupted due to the extravagant lifestyle but that still doesn’t give every TV host a godly right to “think evil” of them. Remember Judge no man lest you be judged by men (plural) and God. Now let’s take this “evil thinking” a level higher which brings to mind our leaders. It is so bad today that a godly respect for authority figures is very hard to find. Yes, sad to say it but this type of ungodly thinking has even creep into the church. No let us correct that statement by saying it didn’t even creep into the church but rather it came presumptuously through the side door (ministers of Christ). So many Christians think it is their God given right to speak evil of an authority figure just because they heard another Christian leader speak evil too. The Lord will not judge you by another man’s/woman’s actions but He (Jesus) will hold you accountable for the things you do and say. All these evil (negative) actions and words stem from “evil thinking”. Remember most people speak according to their heart which basically means they were thinking that way (evil) before someone else even heard it or saw it. Thus, as man a thinks in his heart so is he.-Proverbs 23:7 Evil words come from an evil heart, no exceptions and no excuses please. Now let’s take it to a higher level where Christians often “think evil” about other Christians. Don’t look so pious to think that you never “think evil” about another brethren or sister in Christ because that would not be true. How many times have we gotten into an argument with another believer “evil thinking” was probably involved because arguing is always a byproduct of corrupted communication. The Lord speaks (talks) to us He doesn’t argue with us because arguing typically carries with it anger and accusation. How often have we heard a negative story about a minster and immediately thought the worst. Sometimes the stories may be true but we still “shouldn’t think evil” about them because then we could possible spread negative gossip about that person. Also, since “love thinks no evil” would it not be better to offer up a prayer of peace for the person in question rather than tell a friend about an “evil thought (evil report)” that you just heard from another. This “evil thinking” doesn’t stop there because some believers even “think evil” about God. The very moment you question God’s ability or willingness to help you, you are “thinking evil”. The second you choose your own way over God’s Word when you know the difference you are “thinking evil” because Love always puts God first knowing that God is Love so He always has your best interest in mind. “Thinking evil” will tempt every believer probably everyday but hopefully the wise Saint will recognize it and resist it in Jesus Name. We all have a choice to “think evil” or on the contrary to think good by being patience, praiseful and positive, we (ihlcc) can only hope and pray that you would purposely decide to “think no evil” every day and all during the day in Jesus Name. Remember, Love thinks “no evil” so if you truly love the other person “you will not think evil” of them knowing “God never thinks evil” of you. Amen!