"Your eye is a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is good, your whole body is filled with light. But when your eye is bad, your whole body is filled with darkness." Matthew 6:22-23
Whatever is evil, vengeful, lustful, tempting, or otherwise ungodly tends to stick in our minds like a truck in the Alabama mud after a big rain. Have you ever had to wash that red Alabama clay off after a rain? Let me tell you a stickier substance was never made. I work in a landfill in Alabama in during the wet months it is almost a full time job keeping the mud out of my tires and off my truck. And just like things that are evil we have to be ever vigilant not to let that happen.
Today's post applies to all kinds of inappropriate thoughts - anger, bitterness, vengeance, jealousy, criticism, negativity, and I could go on forever. But this also applies to lust and pornography, which trust me when I tell you, can turn into as strong an addiction as alcohol or drugs. In our world today, accessing porn is as easy as walking over to a vending machine and buying a bag Golden Flake potato chips. And just like those chips, in small amounts many think that they are completely harmless to your waistline but if you gorge yourself on them you will get fat. Porn will take up residency in your mind and your heart as fast as those chips will your thighs. You won't even realize it's a problem until it's too late. You don't have to go to the shady bookstore downtown or click on the website to be touched by this horrible addiction either. It can get into your life in a lot of different ways. Just like the other tools of the enemy, it is very subtle and extremely damaging and the best way to keep from it is to avoid it all together.
As a father, I am sensitive to the ways our culture handles this and as being a recovering user I am ultra sensitive when it comes to the impact that it has on my kids. I know that I can be easily tempted as an adult and if I am that susceptible then how much more so will my kids be. And the thing is, that this just isn't a matter of pornography, but of decency. If I put the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue on my coffee table or hand a bikini model calendar in my office what kind of message am I sending to my boys? What kind of message am I sending to my little girls? Not to mention the temptation that I feel myself. I know that I have to protect my mind and the forming minds of my kids. It often starts as small things chipping away at our boundaries like water washing over a bed of rocks. What often starts as a stream will eventually turn into a river then into a deep canyon, if given time.
The best way to protect yourself is to pray early and often and to set up some sort of accountability with someone that you know will hold your feet to the fire. You should always ask God to remove the thought from your mind but if you do fall into the trap you have to man up and tell your accountability partner. You have to be willing to have someone else know your secret in order to beat this or any addiction. You have to envision your mind as a treasured territory then do what ever it takes to protect it. Whenever you are confronted with this sort of thing or any other addiction, reject it and replace it with something more positive and life affirming, such as scripture. Then teach your kids how to redirect their thoughts and to discipline themselves with God's word.
Life is a battlefield. Gear up with the right things and get ready for war.
Whatever is evil, vengeful, lustful, tempting, or otherwise ungodly tends to stick in our minds like a truck in the Alabama mud after a big rain. Have you ever had to wash that red Alabama clay off after a rain? Let me tell you a stickier substance was never made. I work in a landfill in Alabama in during the wet months it is almost a full time job keeping the mud out of my tires and off my truck. And just like things that are evil we have to be ever vigilant not to let that happen.
Today's post applies to all kinds of inappropriate thoughts - anger, bitterness, vengeance, jealousy, criticism, negativity, and I could go on forever. But this also applies to lust and pornography, which trust me when I tell you, can turn into as strong an addiction as alcohol or drugs. In our world today, accessing porn is as easy as walking over to a vending machine and buying a bag Golden Flake potato chips. And just like those chips, in small amounts many think that they are completely harmless to your waistline but if you gorge yourself on them you will get fat. Porn will take up residency in your mind and your heart as fast as those chips will your thighs. You won't even realize it's a problem until it's too late. You don't have to go to the shady bookstore downtown or click on the website to be touched by this horrible addiction either. It can get into your life in a lot of different ways. Just like the other tools of the enemy, it is very subtle and extremely damaging and the best way to keep from it is to avoid it all together.
As a father, I am sensitive to the ways our culture handles this and as being a recovering user I am ultra sensitive when it comes to the impact that it has on my kids. I know that I can be easily tempted as an adult and if I am that susceptible then how much more so will my kids be. And the thing is, that this just isn't a matter of pornography, but of decency. If I put the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue on my coffee table or hand a bikini model calendar in my office what kind of message am I sending to my boys? What kind of message am I sending to my little girls? Not to mention the temptation that I feel myself. I know that I have to protect my mind and the forming minds of my kids. It often starts as small things chipping away at our boundaries like water washing over a bed of rocks. What often starts as a stream will eventually turn into a river then into a deep canyon, if given time.
The best way to protect yourself is to pray early and often and to set up some sort of accountability with someone that you know will hold your feet to the fire. You should always ask God to remove the thought from your mind but if you do fall into the trap you have to man up and tell your accountability partner. You have to be willing to have someone else know your secret in order to beat this or any addiction. You have to envision your mind as a treasured territory then do what ever it takes to protect it. Whenever you are confronted with this sort of thing or any other addiction, reject it and replace it with something more positive and life affirming, such as scripture. Then teach your kids how to redirect their thoughts and to discipline themselves with God's word.
Life is a battlefield. Gear up with the right things and get ready for war.
Comments
Post a Comment