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NOT A HEART THAT IMAGINES EVIL (III)
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 30
1 Corinthians 13:5

Philippians 4:8

 

“…whatsoever things are

true… honest… just… pure… lovely…”

 

NOT A HEART THAT IMAGINES EVIL (III)
 
How can this be avoided? How can we cultivate the contrary practice, of not thinking evil of one another? Here are three points for our consideration.
 
Be objective. Don’t judge what you don’t know ‒ the hearts of others are outside the realm of your knowledge. Instead, judge what you do know: your own heart. We ought to be willing to think evil of ourselves, before we think evil of others! Don’t judge what is outside your domain ‒ we ought rather to give others, especially our brothers and sisters in Christ, the benefit of the doubt wherever possible. Don’t allow feelings to direct your judgment ‒ how often we feel hurt, and so assume that someone must have intended to hurt us; when it could easily have been nothing more than a misunderstanding!
 
Be forgiving. Don’t collect grievances or objections against another person ‒ don’t allow criticism to build up in your heart. Of course there are times when a person’s past behaviour must be taken into account, but in general such things should be cast aside, and not kept in some “bank” of grievance that we hide in our hearts. How easily that vault of venom can cause us to overreact even to minute provocations! Instead, why don’t we allow true, just, honest, pure, lovely thoughts of others to build up in our hearts (cf. Phil 4:8)? Why don’t we collect a “bank” of the virtuous and praiseworthy things they have done? Instead of keeping a catalogue of evil, and adding to it every unfounded rumour that we hear!
 
Don’t be silent. Don’t allow a genuine objection to turn into a poisonous resentment by keeping silent and brooding over a wrong ‒ or worse still telling it to everyone except the person in question! Far too often we see a brother err, but instead of telling him, and lovingly seeking to help him, we keep it to ourselves, or gossip among our friends. We think evil, and cause others to think evil, and all the while that erring brother is not helped. These things ought not to be! If only we would gently help and correct one another instead of harbouring ‒ and spreading ‒ such self-righteous resentment!
 
THOUGHT: My heart inclines to think evil; I must actively think well.

PRAYER: Father, help me to “think on these things” (Phil 4:8)!

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