5thinks no evil; [simple_tooltip content=’1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.
2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.
4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;
5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;
6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;
7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.
9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part.
10 But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.
11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.
13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.’](1 Corinthians 13:1-13)[/simple_tooltip]
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 [simple_tooltip content=’Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.’](Phil. 4:8)[/simple_tooltip]. Then you’ll enjoy His peace. [simple_tooltip content=’You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.’](Isa. 26:3)[/simple_tooltip]
