Guard Your Mind

"He answered, "Love the Lord Your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind...."" - Luk. 10:27

Guarding my thoughts is hard work! Personally for me, I've found controlling my mind as one of my most difficult tasks as a Christian. I think it is definitely more difficult for modern Christians because of all the stimuli from media sources like television and the internet. Those items, while revolutionary, can be used for good or evil like anything else. I used to think I could ignore or remain neutral to images I might see and not be affected by them. However, I now consider myself a "sensitive viewer." When I see that warning preceding a television program I take it seriously now, whereas in the past, I would watch it and I eventually became desensitized to it. When I finally realized that, it really troubled me and I started being more selective about my viewing. I also used to think I couldn't be swayed by others' ideaologies; but if I fail to bone up on my personal Bible study, I can be.

Reading is without a doubt my most favorite pastime. Personally, I like non-fiction. Novels just aren't my style, although sometimes I give in and read one if the author is really a talented wordsmith. I love anything written by C.S. Lewis. My most favorite fiction writer is the late Louis L'Amour who wrote historical/western sagas. I didn't read him for years because I thought his books were "dude stuff." I also enjoy most famous southern writers: Ernest Hemingway, Fannie Flagg, Samuel Clemens, Eudora Welty, Maya Angelou, and John Grisham, just to name a few. When I want to be scared I read Dean Koontz or Stephen King. When I want suspense, I read Tom Clancy. Not all fiction is innocent though. Some romance novels can be tastefully written, but most of them are purely pornographic. I jokingly call them "heavin' cleavage novels." I know I'm going on and on about reading material, but as a book lover, words carry great truck with me. When I read fiction I produce a movie in my mind that Hollywood is not talented enough to create.

What we choose to expose ourselves to can lead either to a strengthened state of mental wellness or weaken into mental illness. We can choose to fill our minds with wholesome, healthy thoughts and be strengthened by them (Phil. 4: 8; Col. 3: 2); or in the alternative, we can give in to the macabre and make ourselves mentally sick. I have at times made myself physically sick by giving heed to the dark cloud that enters my thoughts from time to time. 1 Thessalonians 5: 22 says we're to abstain from every appearance of evil. We need to recognize that Satan is trying to invade our minds and give us negative thoughts and fears, or perhaps angry, malicious ones. We need to meditate upon God's Word for the Lord searches our hearts and minds (Deut. 6: 5-7; Psa. 7: 9; Rev. 2: 23).

I consider myself a "glass half-full" person and try to accept every new day as an opportunity for a do-over and attempt to put the best face on it by daily by renewing my mind (Eph. 4: 23). Write and tell me how you focus your thoughts on God.

Love Ya,
God Bless!