A Good Question!
A few days ago I was talking with Mary Ruth, my sister, on the phone. As we got ready to close our visit she said to me, "Try to stay out of trouble." I replied, "It is hard for me to get in trouble at my age. I can only think of bad things to do!" Then she recited the bible quote that if you even think of something evil in your mind it is the same as if you do it. I have been mulling that over ever since then.
I am wondering if it goes the same way if you want to do something good but you only think of it and don't actually do it--does that work the same way? Many times I have thought of going to church and I really want to but I don't actually go. Does that mean that because I thought of it and really wanted to go but never actually did it that it is the same as if I really did go? Also I am reading the bible on a DVD and I try to read fairly regularly but I don't always get to it. So when I think of reading but never actually turn it on am I guilty of not reading it? Or is it the same as if I really did read because I wanted to and thought of it but failed to do so? I really need an answer to this question!
Somehow, I can't believe that if I think of an evil thing to do but I resist doing it, that I am as bad off as if I actually did it. Can you explain that to me? I am sure there would be many interpretations of that bit of scripture.
I would like to find the quote in the bible that says that. But I am not an expert on the bible and I don't know where to find it.
I am not trying to find an excuse to do any evil things but I would like a satisfying answer to what is really right. It has been puzzling me for days! Preachers, sound off!
posted by kyra lafain @ 9/06/2010 12:30:00 PM
1 Comments:
It's the attitude of the heart that's being called into question. If you have a fleeting thought of doing something bad, but you resist that temptation because you know it's wrong, then it's not as bad as if you had actually done it. But when you carry a grudge for many years, when you hate someone so badly that it preys on your mind, then you are guilty of sin -- and the whole point is that sin is sin, no matter what kind it is. As for thinking of doing something good and not doing it -- "To him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin."
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