Most of us have learned to avoid unpleasantness by being careful not to say or do things that offend, upset, or anger other people.
We usually don’t monitor our thoughts as carefully as words and deeds. We think no one is aware of them, which is an insult to God, Who knows everything. He has told us that sinful thoughts are enough to consign us to Hell forever. Matthew 5: 8 “But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
Committing adultery is a Commandment violation. Jesus said that thinking about adultery is also violating that Commandment. It is safest to assume that applies to all sinful thoughts.
At Judgment, our thoughts about killing may make us as guilty as those who actually killed. A Moslem fanatic who’s killed Christians, Jews, Hindus, or Buddhists may end up in Hell. But, what about the Christian, Jew, Hindu, or Buddhist who, upon seeing even a picture of a crowd of Moslems, thinks silently, “I’d like to get rid of them!”
If lustful thoughts are the same as adultery, aren’t thoughts of murder the same as killing?
The safest thing to do with such thoughts is to not have them. If they occur, we get rid of them as quickly as we recognize their presence. Bad thoughts and bad deeds are risky. Both may lead to long, painful punishments.
What are these bad thoughts? Each bad, sinful thought is a destructive demon.
When we are aware of bad thoughts, treat them as if they were alive. they are vermin in the mind, spiritual tapeworms around the soul. When we’ve risen far enough above conventional reality to understand, we simultaneously know how important it is to ask God’s saints and angels to help us drive these evil spirits away.
“St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humble pray; and do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly host, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.”
Our sin is in letting ourselves become a home to the evil spirits that are sins.
