The Interlinear Bible translates this text word for word and this part comes out meaning, “not thinks evil”. Further study in different commentaries showed me that the usage of these words means to not think evil of others, or find evil where there isn't any. The text implies that Love does not invent or devise any evil. It does not reason on any particular act or word so as to assume evil from it.
It is so easy to assume the worst about others instead of thinking the best. People who do that frequently, end up causing everyone around them to feel like they're walking on thin ice when they talk to them. It's no wonder we have difficulty communicating with each other when so many people are running ahead of what we say, and assuming the worst instead of really listening to what we are saying. My favorite people to talk to are those who speak their mind and who also take my words at face value. They don't read into what I'm saying.
Communication isn't the only place people see evil where there is no evil. How many times have we looked at someone and assumed they were a bad person without ever getting to know who that person is and what they're really like. It's easy to forget that only God can see what is in the heart of each person.
During my Junior and Senior year at academy, I had a dean who said to me, “I never mistrust a person until they give me something to mistrust them about.” Her words impressed me so much that I decided to adopt that attitude. Sometimes I was a little unwise in how I applied it, but eventually I did learn to use some caution without judging another person.
Several years ago a man was baptized in our church whose actions and appearance made many people uncomfortable. He was from the homeless shelter, and he didn't wear the usual church attire. When he came up out of the water, after being baptized, he raised his arms up and shouted, “Hallelujah!” At the time I was attending a very quiet and conservative church. I remember being startled at his joyous outburst and wondered what kind of person he was. This man always sat near the front of the church and cheered our pastors on with his “Hallelujah!” whenever the pastor said something that touched this man's heart. At first people would look uncomfortable and shift in their seats, but after a while we came to appreciate Joshua's enthusiasm in our church and his “Hallelujah!” brought smiles to our face. Joshua also brought others from the homeless shelter to our church. It wasn't uncommon to see him pushing someone in a wheel chair, down the aisle, to the front row, with others following behind him.
We eventually lost Joshua to cancer. Our church prayed for him. Every time he would get better we grew hopful that he was winning the battle against the cancer. We had gone from being uncomfortable with him to now thinking our church would seem lifeless without him. We saw evil where there wasn't any when we first met Joshua. We heard evil when there was only praise for our Heavenly Father. If love doesn't think evil, then our churches should welcome everyone from all walks of life.