QUESTION #4

Is a bad thought a sin?

I hope you didn't say that was true! Many people think that bad thoughts are sin because they have listened to the teaching of "turkeys" for too long. Here's something to think about. If you feel that a bad thought is sin, then every time you are tempted to do something wrong, you sin, just because the temptation came to you. That, too, is a teaching of "turkeyology".

To begin with, sin is an act, not a thought. A bad thought in itself is not a sin -- it's what you do with that thought that determines whether or not you sin! It's one thing for a thought to knock at the door of your mind, but it is quite another thing to invite that thought in and then ACT on it!

I know you've heard the old cliche, "You can't stop the birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from making a nest in your hair!" And that's the way it is with thoughts. We can't always control the thoughts that come to us, but we CAN refuse to entertain them. We don't have to act on them! So the thoughts, in and of themselves, are NOT sin if not acted upon!

How about a concrete example? Matthew 5:28 says, "(W)hosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." Be honest, now. Haven't you always felt that just because the thought entered your mind, you had sinned? Whoa! Back up. First of all, sin is a deliberate action. Of course, if a person turns and gazes on someone of the opposite sex and plays out an act of adultery in his/her mind, yes, THAT'S a deliberate act of sin. But that's a far cry from a thought that enters the mind when someone passes by dressed in a seductive manner and you push the thought away and cover your mind with the Blood of Jesus.

So bad thoughts are NOT sins. That's "turkey-talk!" But bad thoughts which are received and ACTED UPON, on the other hand, ARE sin.

Don't succumb to "turkey" teaching. Rise above it, for you're a child of God! You're an eagle, not a turkey!

Preacher's Kid