“Choosing To Think”

Monday, October 10, 2016

This is a painful sin.  I know that having sinful thoughts is a sin, and I am a christian.  I've been having horrible thoughts about God; I don’t want to have the thoughts, but they just pop up.  Is that the devil putting them in my head, and will I go to hell for it?  I’m scared.

Sincerely,
Wandering Mind

Dear Wandering Mind,

Dwelling upon evil desires is sinful (such as lusting after a woman – Matt 5:28), but a thought popping into your head is not the same as dwelling upon evil.  We don’t exactly know how much power the devil has to influence our thoughts, but we do know that in certain circumstances, he has put thoughts into people’s minds (such as Judas betraying Christ – Jhn 13:2).

You don’t have complete control over what thoughts come into your mind (this is also true of emotions), but you do have control over what you do with those thoughts.  Jas 1:13-15 points out that sin occurs when we allow our thoughts to dwell upon sinful behavior until we actually act upon it.  Make a choice to think about something else.  The story of the demon tells us that we must remove sin from our lives and replace it with positive things (Matt 12:43-45).  Meditate and dwell on wholesome things (Php 4:8).  Fight evil thoughts by replacing them with holy thoughts.

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