Many people believe their thoughts do not matter. As long as they say and do all the right things, then they can be as rotten as they want to be in their own private thoughts. As we are so judged by our works, ( It is written, "Be holy, for I am holy." And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; I Peter 1:16-17), please make no mistake that our thoughts are very much considered as part of our works.
Matthew 5:28 reminds us how important our thoughts are: But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. In other words, you do not have to participate in a physical affair to be considered an unfaithful spouse. In the Lord’s eyes, lusting after someone else (this goes beyond simple attraction, but evolves into impure thoughts), is a sin.
As I thought of writing this blog, I have to admit I was convicted as I contemplated Matthew 12:34 (see below). What is the abundance of my heart? How often would I be dealing with a customer at work over the phone and be super polite and kind, but in my thoughts I would be calling the person annoying or even stupid. Yes, it is always important to treat others with respect, but if our thoughts are cruel, God knows. And trust me, one can wear a mask for only so long before the real truth of their poor attitude seeps through. It’s why Jesus so often preached to the Pharisees about their hypocritical lives. Of the abundance of your heart is dark and crooked, your speech is sure to be as well. No one is capable of being phony 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Chances are, someone in your life knows the real you. And if you really are that good of an actor that you fool everyone all the time, God knows you more intimately than even you know yourself.
But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. "Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." Matthew 12:25,33-37
When I pray, one thing I ask, is that my cup be clean on the inside out. I do not want to be an outside-only Christian. I want my private thoughts toward others to match my outward smile. When people say I am being gracious, I want it to be the truth. I want to do more than appear polite when inwardly I am biting my tongue because I want to lash out in anger toward someone or spout off with a smart alec reply. Instead, I want my heart to bear as much fruit as my actions. When angry or annoyed, I want to stop and see the so-called offender through the eyes of Christ, and abandon my ego in the dump with the garbage.
When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not first washed before dinner. Then the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness. Foolish ones! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also? But rather give alms of such things as you have; then indeed all things are clean to you. But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Luke 11:38-42
The Lord sees and knows all our hearts. The entire chapter of Mark 7 is excellent (as are all the words of Jesus Christ), but I want to remind us (me too) of just a few verses:
He answered and said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: 'This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me. Mark 7:6-7
When I worship the Lord, I do not want to merely sing a pretty song, but I want to make sure my heart is pure before Him. It is a million times more important that my I worship the Lord with a tender heart toward others than whether or not my voice and actions appeal to others. When I raise my hands toward the Lord, I want them to be clean.
As a final reminder, Luke 12:1-3 says, “In the meantime, when an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together, so that they trampled one another, He began to say to His disciples first of all, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.”
Jesus knows our every thought, even when we put on a false front to others. Even if one spends his whole life successfully fooling others into thinking He is serving the Lord while addicted to pornography (which yes, as mentioned above, is the same as adultery), stealing from others, backbiting, gossiping, etc., when he stands before the Lord on judgment day, all will be revealed.
Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. Matthew 16:24-27
For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works. II Corinthians 11:13-15
Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. Revelation 20:11-15
I also want to add this excerpt that I wrote for my other blog, "The ABCs of a Joyful Marriage" from a post titled: Week 56: Seven Abominations: You can read the entire post from the link: https://abcsofajoyfulmarriage.blogspot.com/2019/12/week-56-seven-abominations.html
A heart that devises wicked plans: Notice that one does not even have to carry out wicked plans, but just dreaming them up is an abomination to God. The Lord knows all your thoughts and if you are considering harming someone or breaking the law, you will be held accountable for your thoughts. Matthew 5:28 says we commit adultery just by thinking about having sex with someone not our spouse. Proverbs 23:7 says that we are what we think. The Bible also says that whatever we sow in our hearts we will reap in our actions. Remember that song, "Be careful little mind what you think? For the Father up above is looking down in love." Well, sing that to yourself every time you are devising wicked thoughts. Repent, and change your thought process!
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