THE NORTHERN KENTUCKY SEARCHER
"Search the scriptures: for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. " (John 5:39)

VOLUME 2, NUMBER 28, AUGUST 11, 2002

THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT  

            Have you ever met someone who always places the worst possible interpretation upon every word said and every action taken by his or her brethren?  Statements can be twisted to mean something that they didn’t really mean and motives for harmless actions will be called into question.  If there is a good way to look at something and a bad way to look at something, some folks are just going to always choose the bad.  

            In the 13^th chapter of 1 Corinthians, Paul sets forth characteristics of love.  In verses 4-7, he wrote, “Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

While every one of these attributes is applicable to the main point of this article, two of them particularly stand out.  They are, “does not take into account a wrong suffered” and “believes all things”.  

            When Paul writes, “does not take into account a wrong suffered” or as the King James Version renders it, “thinketh no evil”, he is introducing a characteristic of love that is vital for brethren to properly deal with one another.  Since the Lord’s church is made up of imperfect people, there will be times when someone will get their feelings hurt, when something stupid will be said, when someone will do something wrong.  Someone with love does not dwell upon those kinds of things.  The idea behind “thinketh” or “take into account” is “to ponder; let one’s mind dwell on.”  The word has a technical and an ordinary meaning.   It was used in the technical sense in business dealings and referred to entering a debt on a ledger.  If Paul had the technical meaning in mind he was saying that someone with love does not keep a running record of offenses against themselves with a view toward payment.   If the ordinary meaning is what Paul had in mind, than the idea is that the one who loves does not allow their mind to dwell on offenses.  To do that allows bitterness and resentment to build.   

            A person who can tell you everything any brother or sister ever did against them, or constantly dwells on offenses (real or perceived), is not likely to give the benefit of the doubt.  They are much more likely to put the worst possible interpretation on everything their brethren do.  

            Paul’s statement in verse 7, about love “believing all things”, directly addresses the point we are discussing.  He is not saying that the person with love is easily deceived.  In his commentary on 1 Corinthians, John Calvin commented about “believeth all things”  by saying that the Christian is not to be so stupid as to cast aside wisdom and discernment so as to let people find it easy to cheat him; he does not forget how to distinguish white from black.  (The First Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians, John Calvin)   

            However, the real point is that when there is no conclusive evidence to the contrary, the one with love always believes the very best about his brethren.  Unfounded suspicions and doubts to not cloud such a person’s judgment.  He or she is always ready and willing to give their brethren the benefit of the doubt and believe the very best about them.  When all of us refuse “to take into account a wrong suffered” and when all of us “believe all things”, life is so much more enjoyable – and that is how God designed it to be.  

                                                Greg Litmer

A DRUG PROBLEM  

I had a “drug” problem when I was a young person and teenager.  

I was “drug” to church on Sunday morning.  

I was “drug” to church on Sunday night.  

I was “drug” to church on Wednesday night.  

I was “drug” to Sunday School each week.  

I was “drug” to Vacation Bible School .  

I was also “drug” to the woodshed when I disobeyed my parents.  

Those “drugs” are still in my veins; and they affect my behavior in every thing I do, say, and think.  They are stronger than cocaine, crack, or heroin.  If our children had this kind of “drug” problem more often, America would be a better place.  

Anonymous -  but submitted by Barbara Proctor.  (Thanks, Barb!)

DID YOU HEAR THIS ONE?

 Two guys were out in a boat, fishing on a Sunday morning and not having very much luck.

One of them got to thinking about what they were doing and said, “I feel bad being out here fishing when I ought to be in church.”

“Yes, I know how you feel,” the other one said, “but I couldn’t have gone anyway.  My wife’s sick.”