Do You Have to Think Kind Thoughts?

As Christians we understand that we are called to live differently than the world lives. We see in John 14 that when we are obedient to God, we are showing Him our love for him. In 2 Corinthians 5:17, Paul calls Christians “new creations”, and for a lot of Christians I think we try to have righteous actions. However, the problem is this is not always matched with the same effort to have righteous thoughts. I think there are many of us that if we were honest the way we treat people to their faces, is not always the same way we think about them in our heads.

For me so much of my day can sometimes consist of me being snarky or rude to the people around me. The justification might be that no one can hear these thoughts so nothing bad will happen. However, Jesus in Matthew 5:21-22 says something on the contrary, ““You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Jesus is saying in these verses, (and using anger the verses before it to establish the same point) That what we think about matters. We are called to be righteous as Christians both on the inside, and the outside.

John 13:35 says that as Christians we will be recognized by the way we love others. Love is the marker of who is a follower of Jesus. If we are going to be a loving group of people, this has to start with our thoughts. We can not expect to demonstrate love, if we are so busy cutting people down in our heads. This week I am challenging myself when I am frustrated and want to think something rude or hurtful, to remember that I am a new creation that is called to love others.