Mind your thoughts!

Matthew 5:20-26

Jesus said to his disciples, If your virtue goes no deeper than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven. ‘You have learnt how it was said to our ancestors: You must not kill; and if anyone does kill he must answer for it before the court. But I say to you that every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother shall be liable to the council, and whoever says, "You fool!" shall be liable to the hell of fire. So then, if you are bringing your offering to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar, go and be reconciled with your brother first, and then come back and present your offering. Come to terms with your opponent in good time while you are still on the way to the court with him, or he may hand you over to the judge and the judge to the officer, and you will be thrown into prison. I tell you solemnly, you will not get out till you have paid the last penny.’

Food for thought!

"You have learnt … But I say to you."

In these few words, Jesus shows us that he knows that we have other teachers, other instructors, besides him. He says, "You have learnt!" This means that indeed, there are other teachers in this world, besides Jesus. He knows it. This is not the point, however. The point is that notwithstanding what we have learnt from whoever has taught us, Jesus wants us to drop that teaching and adopt his teaching. That is why he says:

"But I say to you."

This saying means that regardles of what we have learnt, regardles of what the world says…Jesus teaches us something else. Yes, Jesus sometimes contradicts us in what we know, in what we do. It is Jesus' teaching that it is not enough not to commit murder, not to still, not to speak evil of others; it is equally important not to think of murder, not to think of stilling, not to think evil of others.  

It may be that we have never struck another person; but who can say that he never wished to strike another person? It was Jesus' teaching that thoughts are just as important as deeds, and that it is not enough not to commit a sin; the only thing that is enough is not to wish to commit it in the first place. 

It is Jesus' teaching that we are not judged only by our deeds; we are judged even more by our thoughts which never translate into deeds. By the world's standards a man is a good man, if he never does a forbidden thing. By Jesus' standards, goodness and evil starts not with our deeds but with our thoughts. Jesus is intensely concerned with our thoughts.

Pause to examine your thought patterns from time to time. As Henry H. Buckley said, “Keep your thoughts right—for as you think, so you are. Thoughts are things, therefore, think only the things that will make the world better and you unashamed.” The Bible says, “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7). And a proverb from the Buddhist Tripitaka reminds us, “All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts and is made up of our thoughts.”

Almost everything that we use and come in contact with each day was originally a thought. For example, the pens, chewing gum, magazines, textbooks, candy, ice cream, telephones, television, radios and computers, houses and schools, churches, and so much more, were once thoughts, ideas, theories, and dreams; they all came into being as thoughts in someone’s mind.

Philippians (4:8), “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”