Be Careful What You Allow Into Your Mind

There is a saying that I have often said to my children, it is:

"Be careful what you allow into your mind, because you will never be able to remove it."

So where am I going with this?

I was approached by a friend at work yesterday who stated that his son was surfing on the Internet when he came across a picture of what would be considered pornography.

He asked me what he could do or say to his son that would help him. Because his son, who is trying to be a good christian, stated that he keeps having that image pop up in his mind.

I told my friend that he should talk to his son and explain that we don't have any control of our thoughts, or what pops into our head, but we do have control over what we do with those thoughts. If we have a disturbing, or even a tempting thought come into our mind, we need to either dismiss it right away, or distract ourselves from it. The thought is neither good nor bad, it is just a thought, but it is what we do with it that makes it good or bad.

Do we savor the thought (i.e. Lustful thought, or a thought about revenge), or do push it away almost immediately.

I often warn my children to be careful what they allow into their minds, because they could spend a lifetime wishing that they never allowed it in.

Probably one of the main reasons why we gave up our TV, I think 5 or more years ago, maybe longer, was for this exact reason.

There are so much negative and destructive images on TV, that like it or not, are implanted into the mind.

This isn't to mention all the other reasons why TV is bad, but to just focus on this single issue, there are so many images in the commercials alone that will contribute to temptation related thoughts that last a lifetime, and that would be reason enough to chuck the TV away.

Movies and the Internet are another example of venues in which images are unnecessarily planted into the minds of children and young adults.

We try to be careful with what movies we watch, and try to filter the movies. You can be living a pretty wholesome life and just one movie with graphic images can trigger temptations that you felt that you have had under control and have not had to deal with for months or even years.

The mind is a remarkable thing. One quick image can spark a memory so long ago removed and bring it back as if it were yesterday.

Of course, God can heal us from anything, but only if we ask and He chooses to do so. He often allows us to struggle with trials and temptations to keep us humble and to remind us of our dependence on him.

However........why allow things into our minds, like unnecessary images, sexual or other, that have no ability to help us in this life, can only contribute to obstacles and roadblocks, when we do have the ability to prevent them from ever entering into our minds and memories.

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU ALLOW TO ENTER YOUR MIND, YOU WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO REMOVE IT.