God's Forgiving Love

Love suffers long [and] is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. (1 Corinthians 13:4-8a, NKJV)

Love thinks no evil. Love is not malicious, devising plans to harm somebody or to get away with doing something it knows is wrong. Love doesn’t think the worst of people or dwell on all the awful, dark things in the world.

One way that I think evil is to dwell on the ways people have said hurtful things me. I can go over something that happened and think about all the cutting or sarcastic things I could have said, all the ways I could use hurtful words to get back at the person who hurt me. Then I can get started on all the ways that person has hurt me or let me down in the past. That leads me to focus on the person himself and how I’ll never trust or put myself out for him again.

But that’s not love and that’s not the example that God sets for me.

Through Jesus, God completely forgives my sins and remembers them no more (Hebrews 8:12). He throws my sin away, as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12). Because He has forgiven me so much, I need to forgive others. It doesn’t matter if they deserve it or not; it doesn’t matter how often they’ve hurt me in the past. Forgiving others is a matter of love and obedience. (See Matthew 18:21-35.)

Even if I never voiced all the evil thoughts I’ve had, God knows what I’ve done. I need to confess so I can let it go. Once I’ve confessed, I must no longer think evil by dwelling on things of the past. I must think good thoughts instead, even about people who have hurt me in the past. Fortunately, I have the Holy Spirit to help me take control.

"and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ"

- 2 Corinthians 10:5b NASB

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just,

whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."

- Philippians 4:8 ESV

And when I have taken control with God’s help, I can love others like He loves me.

Think About: Do you struggle with thinking evil about someone or something? Take a few moments to think about praiseworthy things.