5thinks no evil; (1 Corinthians 13:1-13)
Many years ago, Jamie and I sat down to have a “discussion.” We felt we needed to talk some things out. What we did was give each other a list of what we thought the other was doing wrong. Amazingly, this list went back years and included even the smallest acts. It became obvious to both of us that we had been keeping a mental ledger of all the things we thought the other was doing wrong.
This isn’t God’s kind of love. It is not the forgiving love of Jesus we are supposed to enjoy and walk in every day. Therefore, we made a decision to quit keeping score. No more storing up all the things that hurt us so we could use them in our next „discussion.” At first this was scary. It was like taking all the ammunition out of our weapons, but then we realized that we weren’t each other’s enemy! We shouldn’t have any weapons pointed at each other.
We made a decision not to dwell on the things we disliked about each other. We chose to think only on the good and let God take care of the rest. It’s amazing how much of a difference this has made. The love of Jesus worked a lot better than our accusations and indictments to make our marriage a great one.
Thinking on evil only gives fuel to the fires of self-pity, anger, and bitterness that Satan wants to ignite within us. Thinking on the wrongs we suffer from others magnifies the offense until it becomes bigger than it actually is. The devil loves to take a small, splinter-size offense, magnify it to the size of a baseball bat, and then beat our brains out with it. Don’t let him do it to you.
Decide today to quit keeping score of all the offenses that come your way. Forgive and go on, thinking instead on things that are pure, lovely, and of good report (Phil. 4:8). Then you’ll enjoy His peace. (Isa. 26:3)
