Guarding Our Thought Life
“For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts..” – Mark 7:21
God is more interested in what we do with the thoughts that pop into our minds than in the thoughts themselves. We have not sinned when we are tempted by an impure thought that flashes into mind, but we are responsible, and do sin, if we harbor and linger on the evil thought. With the help of the Holy Spirit, we can quickly discern each thought that tempts us, dispel it, and consciously change our thoughts towards what is pure. With His help even our thought life can be holy.
“..but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.” – Romans 12:2
“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” - James 4:7
Jesus responds with quotations from the Bible when tempted by Satan, and so can we. He also taught us to pray when facing temptation and other forms of evil.
“And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Ephesians 6:17
“Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” – Matthew 26:41
“So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.” – Galatians 5:16-17
