【双语灵修】承认你邪恶的意念CONFESS YOUR SINFUL THOUGHTS

雅各书5：13 – 16

你们中间有受苦的呢，他就该祷告；有喜乐的呢，他就该歌颂。 你们中间有病了的呢，他就该请教会的长老来，他们可以奉主的名用油抹他，为他祷告。 出于信心的祈祷要救那病人，主必叫他起来；他若犯了罪，也必蒙赦免。 所以你们要彼此认罪，互相代求，使你们可以得医治。义人祈祷所发的力量是大有功效的。

五月九日

承认你邪恶的意念

“所以你们要彼此认罪，互相代求，使你们可以得医治。义人祈祷所发的力量，是大有功效的。”——雅各书5:16

没有人喜欢认罪的。认罪的第一步是承认自己做错了，这令我们感到羞傀。然而认罪是必须的，纵使只是邪恶的意念也要承认。

承认邪恶的意念不是我们的习惯。我们可能认为，只要我们没有把邪恶的意念付诸行动，为什么需要认罪那么麻烦呢？我们或者会告诉自己，有怎样的意念其实并不重要啊。不过，意念真的是很重要的。七项致命的罪：嫉妒、贪婪、暴食、懒惰、愤怒、色欲和傲慢，全部都与我们的意念有关。这些致命的意念，为言语和行为上的罪提供了发芽茁长的肥沃土壤。

我们往往会认为，它们只不过是意念而已，所以不需要承认我们犯了罪。我们甚至可能认为自己的问题已经受到控制，或者很快便会受到控制的了。我们宁愿自己去处理问题，而不去认罪。

然而，我们需要去承认那些邪恶的意念，而不是单单去控制它们。如果我们有一些可以向交代我们的意念的基督徒好友，我们应该与他们谈谈。我们需要承认，不能单靠自己来战胜罪恶的，我们需要圣灵的能力，来帮助我们脱离罪和邪恶。如果我们希望更像基督，便需要圣灵来洁净我们的意念了。

祷告

神啊，认罪很困难，我们宁愿靠自己来管控我们的意念。然而求你帮助我们向你认罪。求你赐我们需要的勇气，谦卑来向你认罪悔改。阿们。

James 5:13-16

SATURDAY, MAY 9

CONFESS YOUR SINFUL THOUGHTS

Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. —James 5:16

None of us likes to confess sin. The first step in confession is to acknowledge that we have done something wrong. That doesn’t make us feel very good about ourselves. But we must confess our sins, even if they are only sinful thoughts.

Confessing our sinful thoughts is not a natural practice. We might think that if we haven’t acted on sinful things we have thought about, why bother? We may tell ourselves that what we think doesn’t really matter, but it does. All seven of the deadly sins are based in our thoughts: envy, greed, gluttony, sloth, anger, lust, and pride. These deadly thoughts are the fertile soil from which sins of word and deed can sprout and grow.

We tend to think that since they are only thoughts, they don’t need to be confessed. We might even think that we have our problem under control— or soon will. We would much rather manage our problems than confess our sins.

But we need to confess our sinful thoughts, not just manage them. And if we are fortunate enough to have good Christian friends with whom we can confess our thoughts, we should talk with them. We need to admit that we cannot conquer sin on our own. We need the power of God’s Spirit to free us from sin and evil. If we wish to be like Christ, we need God’s Spirit to cleanse our thoughts.

O God, confession is hard. We would rather be in charge of our thoughts. But help us to confess to you. Give us the courage and humility we need to confess our sins. Amen.