Garbage in; garbage out

 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2 NIV

Go get your iPhone, Smartphone, iPod…whatever….. I’ll wait……

Ask yourself this question, “Would people know who you are if they found your iPhone on the ground and looked through it?”
Scroll through your song list
Read through your text messages
Look at your emails; your sent emails

Walk over to your DVR… (if you’re reading this on your Kindle you can take me with you!)
scroll through your show list

Now, how about your bookshelf, your Amazon archive… you get the gist, right?

The question isn’t whether or not you can handle it, the question is, are you filling your mind with garbage or with God? We all know the power of the media, the power of music, the power of the written word. Are you filling yourself with garbage or with God?

For some, this may be a hard one; I really get that. While it was not hard for me to turn off the television, because I had long since been done with it, I found it was hard for me to look through my song list and understand the messages I was allowing to sink into my mind.  We all have our own battles.

“Would people know who you are if they found your iPhone on the ground and looked through it?”

If we are constantly filling our minds with garbage, it takes Wednesday and Sunday at church to empty it, which means we are in a constant circular pattern of cleaning the same thing over and over. How can we ever expect to learn something new if we have to revisit the same issue every week? How can our marriage get any better if we continue to watch television shows that encourage infidelity? How can we kick that drug habit once and for all if we keep listening to music that glorifies getting high? How can we learn to love the way God intended us to love if we continue to watch movies with explicit scenes and listen to songs that demoralize the female body?

It’s a choice. We can actually turn this stuff off.
The question is, do you want to?
Are you able to stand strong; against your friends, against your family some times and say, “I refuse to continue to allow garbage into my mind.”

If we intend to live with “Intentional Positivity” we first have to cleanse our minds of the garbage so we can allow God to fill it with things like peace, joy, love, patience. He can’t fill something that is already over-flowing.

It’s time to take the garbage out.

Heavenly Father, help me. Give me the courage to say no. It’s like a drug, these shows, songs, constant media about all the things the world says I should want and do and be. Help me say no and to finally cleanse myself of these influences. Help me stand strong when friends make fun of me for not knowing the latest song, or the last episode of that show. I’m taking out the garbage God so you have room to fill me.