Psalm 141:5-6“4 Keep my heart from desiring any evil thing, or from taking part in the sins of the evil-doers with men who do wrong: and let me have no part in their good things. 5 Let the upright give me punishment; and let the god-fearing man put me in the right way; but I will not let the oil of sinners come on my head: when they do evil I will give myself to prayer.”
Matthew 9:2-4
“2 And behold, they brought to him a paralytic, lying on his bed; and when Jesus saw their faith he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son;  your sins are forgiven.”  3 And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” 4 But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts?”
Mark 8:36-38
“36 What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? 37 What could you ever trade your soul for? 38 ‘If any of you are embarrassed over me and the way I’m leading you when you get around your fickle and unfocused friends, know that you’ll be an even greater embarrassment to the Son of Man when he arrives in all the splendor of God, his Father, with an army of the holy angels.’”

Correction. I’ve needed a lot of it in my lifetime, will need more in the future, could use some today. I want it to come from a place untainted by the fickle and unfocused ways of man though, or at least have the fickle and unfocused ways of man heavily tempered by the wisdom and knowledge of Christ.

There’s nothing in Christ’s teaching to be taken lightly. It’s incredible teaching. Can you imagine the world today if we could forgive transgressions that took place yesterday, 5 years ago, 50 years ago, 500 years ago? Can you imagine what the world would be like if love ruled and not hate?

Yeah, get real, pull your head out of your backside, smell the real roses of life! That’ll never happen.

Yeah, I get that – for now. Why in the world does Christ ask  “Why do you think evil in your hearts?” He knows.  Why does the psalmist ask to “Keep my heart from desiring any evil thing, or from taking part in the sins of the evil-doers with men who do wrong: and let me have no part in their good things.” They knew. Evil isn’t new; the choices we make aren’t new. Nor is the answer.

There is nothing more important than our soul, our core, our being, and where it spends eternity.

So, hopefully I do remove my head from the darkest recesses of my self and the world, and I pray to stand corrected by the love and wisdom of Christ – no matter where it comes from.