I know I'm guilty of cognitive distortions, where I get stuck in patterns of unhelpful thinking. It happens to everyone, but if left unchecked, can lead to problems. I like to think it as wonky thinking. Imagine you're trying to ride a bike with a wonky tyre (I've included a video below in case you're having trouble imagining it). You will still get around, but it will be a lot harder. One of the Ten Commandments says, You must not use my name to make false promises. If you do that, you will show that you don’t respect the name of your God.
Jesus expanded on this command in Matthew 5:33-37. He said, You have also heard that people were told in the past, ‘Do not break your promise, but do what you have vowed to the Lord to do.’ But now I tell you: do not use any vow when you make a promise. Do not swear by heaven, for it is God's throne; nor by earth, for it is the resting place for his feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Do not even swear by your head, because you cannot make a single hair white or black. Just say ‘Yes’ or ‘No’—anything else you say comes from the Evil One. The New Testament church was still swearing on their lives, by heaven, the temple and other sacred things. When I was growing up, it was not uncommon to hear someone say, "I swear to God," to emphasise how serious they were about their promise. I have even caught myself saying that I swear by something when I am explaining how great something is. But Jesus said that we shouldn't swear by anything. The Bible says our words are important and we will have to give an account to God for them (Matthew 12:36). There are three things I took away from these verses: 1. Don't make promises you can't keep. 2. Don't swear by anything. 3. Make sure your words are respectful towards the God who made you. Matthew 5:29-30 says,
So if your right eye causes you to sin, take it out and throw it away! It is much better for you to lose a part of your body than to have your whole body thrown into hell. If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away! It is much better for you to lose one of your limbs than to have your whole body go off to hell. These verses are part of Jesus’ teaching about lust. They are not literal! However, if something is causing you to sin, you should cut it out of your life. For example, when I was a teenager and young adult I read a lot of popular magazines. Some of the content was great, but a lot of the content was sexual in content and not helpful. Sex is great - God designed it. But his perfect plan was for it to be part of a marriage relationship. I didn't gouge my eye out, but I did stop buying and reading those magazines. Is there something in your life that you need to cut out of your life because it's causing you to sin? Maybe it's a type of book or magazine, certain movies, tv shows or music. |
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