We must learn to make it a moment by moment habit to capture every thought and bring it to the Holy Spirit, because it is only with His Eternal point of view, that we can really know if a thought is right or wrong. As we said before, you and I have a very limited point of view, so how can we make good choices based on our thoughts without His help? We often are not even sure what we think, much less what others are thinking. Again, we need to capture those thoughts before we act, and allow the Holy Spirit to lead us.
For instance, let’s say I have a good friend who asks me for some money because she is short on her rent this month. Instantly I might think, “Well, because I care about her, I really want to help her out, so sure I will lend her the funds!” But what if there is an underlying issue that I am not aware of? What if this good friend has developed a gambling problem or some other hurtful habit? Could I be enabling her troubles instead of helping her? You see, unless she confesses to me, apart from praying about it, I just might not know what the right thing to do here is. We must learn to capture every thought and bring it to the Holy Spirit first, if we truly want to love others the way that will most benefit them and us. This will decrease the amount of problems in our lives which will increase the amount of peace and relaxation.
<>< Peace, Diane
