“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” –Philippians 4:8
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 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 12:1-2
“Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” –Colossians 3:2
What do these verses have in common? They teach us that we must guard our thoughts! So often Christians are taught a bunch of rules. “God doesn’t want you to do this” or “God wants you to do that.” Christianity is not a set of rules. It’s about having a relationship with God.
Our actions cannot be changed without first changing our thoughts.
Thoughts ----> Words ----> Actions
(It starts with your thoughts)
This truth became real to me shortly after I graduated from high school. I knew it before, but it didn’t make sense to me and impact my life until I was in college.
Since then, I have been working in my life to purify my mind. I can do this by guarding what I put in my mind. How do I do this? I try to watch what I read, watch, listen to, the conversations I have, etc. This is not an easy or an instantaneous thing. It is a slow and difficult process. I promise you, though, as you fill your mind with His word and with things that glorify Him, those former things won’t seem so important. You won’t want to fill your mind with “junk.”
Our input will affect our output. Media is a big area of input for us today. Many people have media access 24/7. As you know, those people making movies, TV shows, music, books, magazine articles, etc. do not usually follow the standards of the Bible. Our world has adopted a policy of “anything goes” or “if it makes you happy or feels good, it can’t be bad.” If we don’t guard our minds, we too will conform to the patterns of this world. Obviously we have to live in the world and we can’t hide ourselves away in a cave in the wilderness away from people and any contact with the “outside world.” This isn’t what God wants us to do either. He tells us in Matthew to “let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” When we live differently from the world and we follow the standards of the Bible, we will be a light unto the world.
What are some practical ways to do this? Well, I’m not going to pretend to be an expert. I’m not going to pretend that I have it all together. I’m also not going to pretend that I never read, watch, or listen to anything that isn’t glorifying to God. We’re imperfect people. It is a constant battle between the worldly things and the Godly things. I will share with you some practical steps I have taken and I have seen a difference in my own life. Again, this is not a change that can be made overnight.
1. Fill your mind with God’s words. Read your Bible. Have a daily time that you spend reading, meditating, and praying. I personally do this in the morning. It starts my day off in a good way. I enjoy reading His words every morning and I marvel at how He is revealing His truths to me. “…man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” Deuteronomy 8:3
2. Read the thoughts of fellow Christians. I have recently discovered that I enjoy reading books, articles, and blogs by other Christians. Most often, I feel that these people are much smarter than me and they make me think of things I never would have thought of before. This can be very encouraging. However, I warn you to never let these people’s words replace the words of God. Make sure that what these people are saying lines up with what the Bible says.
3. Monitor your media input.
-Music: The majority of the music I listen to these days is Christian music. Many Christian songs have a very powerful message when you really listen to the words. These songs can help you worship when you’re doing every day tasks like driving. I would challenge you to listen to only Christian music for a couple of weeks and see if it doesn’t make a difference in your attitude and the things you think about.
-Movies & TV shows: I am becoming more and more shocked at what they are putting out there via movies and TV shows these days. It is hard to find decent movies to go and see. For this reason and due to high movie ticket prices, Lee and I hardly ever go to the movie theater. Movies were the first area where I felt convicted to watch what I put in my mind. There is a wonderful website that has helped me monitor this.
Plugged in Online is a Christian website that reviews movies, TV shows, music, games, etc. When I am thinking about going to see a movie, I always check in out on this website first. It will tell you EVERY thing that is a negative in the movie. Then, you can decide if it is something you feel you should be watching. I highly recommend you bookmark this page.
-Books, magazine, internet articles: While standing in the checkout line at a grocery store, you can view the headlines of magazines and quickly see what the world values. If you read these things too much, you will come to value them too. If you like to read, as I do, it is important that you also monitor the types of things you are reading. I used to be an avid magazine reader, but I realized that the things those magazines were telling me were not matching up with God’s word. In the same way, books can often be as bad as movies in terms of their content.
I could go on and on talking about media. We also have to be careful of the videos we watch on sites such as YouTube; the things we view on Facebook, blogs, and Twitter; the websites we look at, etc.
4. Choose your friends wisely. Are your friends building you up or bringing you down? Again, you cannot cut off all communication with nonbelievers. You can, however, limit the time you spend with them. You can remain friendly without being best friends. This is probably one of the most difficult steps.
Giving up any of these things can be difficult, but Jesus addressed this in his Sermon on the Mount when he said, “if your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.” –Matthew 5:29-30
Please do not think that I am bragging in writing about this subject. I personally would not have chosen to do these things in my own life. God prompted these things in my life. He gets all the credit for working these things out. I continually fail. Thankfully, God extends grace to us and gives us the power we need to do things that may seem impossible.
