(1 Thessalonians 5:21 NIV) Test everything. Hold on to the good.
Most of us realize that if we eat junk food we are putting junk into our bodies. What we generally fail to realize is that when we allow certain things into our minds and our spirits we are getting junk. Just as junk food corrupts the body so junk fed into our minds and spirits will corrupt us.
Humans are uniquely designed creatures. We may consider that we are one being but we are actually three beings. Just as God is a trinity (three) he designed us to be three. We have a body that is physical. We have a mind. We have a spirit. Science has already shown a link between the body and the mind. There is some controversy about whether there is a spirit in each of us. Science still explores these frontiers by researching near death experiences.
Eating junk food from time to time will not do a lot of harm. However, if we eat it on a regular basis it rapidly degrades our system. The same is true of allowing improper things into our mind. The human mind is similar to a computer. It has an intricate network of neurons that allows it to retain and cross reference information. In the computer programming world there is an expression. GIGO. (G)arbage (I)n (G)arbage (O)ut. It means that if a programmer puts bad information into a computer the end result is that the computer will provide garbage information to the end user.
We all have problems following the instructions that the Lord has given us in the bible. Examine your life and see what sort of problems you are having. Then look at your lifestyle. Do you see those problems existing in any material that is being put into your mind? Are you having a problem with swearing? Does the media you use contain swearing? Are you having a problem with backbiting? Do your friends backbite?
It is usually fairly simple to identify the source of bad material that has influenced our lives. What is hard is taking the proper steps to eliminate it. It may be hard to give up our music, movies or written material. It may be hard to give up our friends. It may be that we just need to find new sources that provide positive input. Sources that feed our minds and our spirits. Ultimately, though we are the programmers of our own mind and spirit. And one day we will stand before the boss and be required to explain why we programmed ourselves as we did.
(Philippians 4:8 NIV) Finally, brothers, 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.
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