Garbage In-Garbage Out

It seems I've been saying this quite a bit lately to our middle son, Daniel.  As a 6th grader he is being exposed to more & more of the "world".  What seems to be difficult for him to understand is the concept of "just because you can, doesn't mean you should."  The world comes to us in so many ways that sometimes we don't even realize that we are getting bombarded with thoughts or images that can effect how we think, behave, or put value on things.  Not all of these things are bad, but we must be careful to feel our minds and hearts with what we know are good.

Several years ago I felt like God was convicting me to stop watching 3 particular TV shows.  I had really enjoyed watching them, but they were beginning to have negative effects on my thoughts that I really did not need in my walk with God.  Recently, I've watched a few episodes of two of these shows (simply out of wanting the TV on while working on laundry and nothing else was on).  I quickly realized why I had stopped watching them.  Just because I could, didn't mean I should.

This week I have been reading Colossians.  Paul writes in Chapter 3 about the "Rules for Holy Living."

vs. 2 - "Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things."

vs. 12 -  "...clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience."

vs. 15 - "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts..."

vs. 16 - "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly..."

When we fill our hearts with "garbage", the dirt shows.   When we fill our hearts with the things of Christ, Christ can shine through us and His love can transform not only us, but the lives of many.

As we prepare our hearts during this Lenten season, let us choose to fill our hearts with the things of Christ.

Living thru faith,
Misty