Are Sinful Thoughts The Same As Acting Out Sin?
Sinful thoughts or Inappropriate thoughts can lead to many problems and lead us away from God and into a lifestyle of depression, oppression or obsession. If Christians would “kill” wrong thinking with God’s Word they could avoid going down the wrong path. It’s just like spraying weed killer on your grass to keep your grass healthy rather than being choked by unruly weeds.
Succumbing to bad thoughts or having fear of bad thoughts returning can be overcome by speaking the scriptures that deal with those thoughts and choke them out. A bad thought doesn’t mean that you’re sinning, but it will become a sin once you’ve allowed it to overcome God’s thoughts and you begin obsessing about it. Eventually you’ll act upon it.
For instance, people say that pedophiles and sexual deviants can never change. But they can if they want to. They’re just used to thinking the same evil thoughts over and over again and at some point they began to enjoy them. But if the day comes where they desire to change, they can through Jesus Christ.
They still have to pay for their crimes if they haven’t, but when the times comes that they might be released from prison or a hospital, they can follow God’s process for Godly thinking that will bring transformation. If someone chooses not to change, it’s by choice because God has given us a means of healing from “acting upon evil thoughts.” We can hear God’s voice through the scriptures and receive what we need. People don’t have to become victims to their sinful thoughts. They can receive victory in Christ.
God’s Thoughts Over Sinful Thoughts
By looking to God’s thoughts (scripture), anyone can be healed because the Word produces what it was meant to accomplish. If it isn’t working in a person’s life, that’s not because the Word failed, it’s because a person’s heart doesn’t possess the desire for change. They enjoy the sinful thoughts they’re hearing and acting upon.
Isaiah 55:11 (KJV) 11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
When the soul is resistant to God’s Word, then the Word can’t penetrate the heart for transformation. A person who is sinning will have a struggle as long as their soul dominates their life. Their flesh will act upon the evil desires of their twisted thinking. However, the fight will lesson as a person looks to God and His Word as the center of their desires, actions and emotions. This is how the Word can begin to feed the spirit and take root for transformation.
Sinful thoughts not acted out are “sins unborn.” They’re still in the womb so to speak as long as we don’t act upon them. We can use the thoughts that God has given us to replace the sinful thoughts that come to our minds rather than feeling guilty. Feeling guilty is just as wrong as entertaining bad thoughts because it’s not productive. Replacing wrong thinking with God’s thoughts will make it easy to overcome guilt and move on to productive thinking.
It’s important to study the New Testament to learn what God characterizes as sin. Without that knowledge, we can’t know what sin is. There are many obvious sins that most of us are aware of, but also many that go unnoticed and are even respected.
For instance, a sin less easy to detect than perhaps a lie, is worry. I used to worry all the time. Worry is a sin according the Bible because it opposes faith in God. It’s equivalent to many of the sins that most Christians would never commit, but because it’s considered a standard for caring, it’s acceptable behavior by many. We need to study to show ourselves approved as it says in II Timothy 2:15 so that we can know what is right and wrong thinking.
Philippians 4:6-7 6. Be careful (anxious) for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Get God’s thoughts into you heart and they’ll dominate your mind. It may take a little practice at first, but eventually you’ll learn to keep yourself free from wrong or bad thoughts and their resulting behaviors. Without doing this, you’ll give in to the weak areas of your character that cause you trouble.
The more we learn about God and how to love Him, the easier it will be to reject wrong thoughts when they come to our minds. By centering upon Him we desire to follow His thinking and His ways.
The information from this article was taken from the God’s Thoughts Bible Study by Margaret Lukasik. If you desire to be healed of wrong thinking that has messed up your life and you need to create a clean slate with God, it can be done with 3 simple steps based upon scripture. The study will improve your thinking for Godly living, success, making the best decisions and living your most fulfilled life. Go here to get the study.
