“Garbage In – Garbage Out”

“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.” (Philippians 4:8)

Do you know that whatever you feed your spirit is what is also going to come out in your life? Do you also know that you have the ability to control what you think about, what you read, what you watch and what you meditate on? You have control over your own spiritual well-being simply by controlling what you allow to go into your mind. And you feed your spirit-being every day by the things you listen to, the things you watch on T.V., the music you hear, the things you read, the things you talk about and the things you think about. You have a zillion choices to make every day…and how you choose greatly affects how you grow spiritually.

There is an old Indian tale that can help us to understand this lesson more clearly that goes something like this: “One evening, an elderly Cherokee brave told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said "My son, the battle is between two ‘wolves' inside us all. One is evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other is good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith." The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf wins?" The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one that you feed".

And that is the same battle that wages war inside each one of us every single day of our lives. You feel it happening a lot when your physical body or your mind and personal desires wants one thing but your spirit being knows it is the wrong thing for you…and so the battle rages. Even the Apostle Paul described this same battle that he was fighting, for he wrote this to the Church at Rome: “For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.” (Romans 7:19-20)

I remember as a kid up until I was in the third grade, my dad was an alcoholic. He drank very heavily…so much in fact that he could not keep a car or hold a job. He was really bad! Well, one day my dad got so drunk that he started fighting with my older brother and mom had him arrested and the police took him to jail. That was the only time I ever remembered my mom threatening to divorce my dad while I was a child…and because of it, my dad finally came to his senses and stopped drinking…cold turkey! For 15 years my dad did not drink alcohol!

Then one morning, Dad was at work and one of his co-workers came to him and said, “I think we should go get a drink”…and so they did. My dad gave in and stopped fighting the battle, and from that day on, my father drank worse than ever before, until in 1988 on what was supposed to be his deathbed, he received Jesus Christ as his Savior and Lord. But I remember having a conversation with my dad one day while he was still drinking, and he told me that in all those 15 years there was never one day that he did not want to have a drink. He had fought that battle that was waging inside him for 15 years out of sheer will-power…but the reason he could not win the battle was because he did not have the power of the Holy Spirit working inside of him, and so he just gave in to the physical urge and started back drinking again. That battle had been going on all those years, and finally he did not have the strength any longer to fight it.

You see, before we came to Christ, we belonged to Satan…we were his property, he owned us. Ephesians 3:1-3 tells us, “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.” But the good news is this, “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:4-7) The truth is when we were dead in our sins, we had NO power to win the war that goes on in us…BUT…because God in His great mercy sent His Son to make us alive in Him and has given us His Holy Spirit Who empowers us to becomes overcomers…we now have a choice! We can choose to either win the battle or we can choose to lose it. Even though God has enabled us, He still leaves the choice to us. We have to choose what we are going to feed or spirits…will we feed our spirits Godly and righteous things, or are we going to feed it worldly and sensual things. If we will chose the good things that God wants for us, we will have power to overcome the sinful lifestyle that Satan wants us to live, but if we insist on devouring the filth of the world, then God will let us live pitiful and defeated lives. As the little Cherokee boy learned, the wolf that we feed is the one that wins. The choice is up to you.

So, it takes boldness, it takes determination on our part. In 2 Corinthians 6:17, Paul stated to the Church there, “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.” God is calling His people to holiness, He is calling us to be different, He is calling us to make a decision to devote our lives 100% to Him. He does not want us to look like the world and talk like the world and act like the world. That means we are going to have to decide to forgo worldly pleasures and entertainment. He is calling us to dress differently, to talk differently and to act different from the world. When people see us and the lives we live for Jesus, there should be an unmistakable difference that unbelievers can see and recognize. Just as the people looked at the Disciples and knew they had been with Jesus (Acts 4:13), the same should be true of our lives too.

So that means we are going to have to make some hard choices for ourselves and our families. Those trashy T.V. shows must go. The worldly music that brings no honor and glory to our Lord must go. We must determine in our hearts and minds that we want to look more and act more like Jesus…not just when our church friends are around, but all the time. We need to live our lives to please the Lord. When we allow garbage from the world to stink up our lives, it will definitely show, and God cannot use us when we refuse to walk in obedience. So let me challenge you…pray about it and ask the Lord to help you to clean up your act. Ask Him to help you to make good choices in the things you do and say and the way you present yourself to others. Ask Him to help you to stay away from the T.V. programs, books, magazines, and music that will bring the world into your life. He has the power to give you, but you must make the choice that you want to live your life for Him. 

Prayer: Father in the Powerful and Mighty Name of Jesus, we ask You right now to help us to win this war that is waging inside of us every day. Help us Father, to become stronger, help us to become bolder and more determined that we will live our lives for You and You alone. We surrender 100% of everything we are to You right now Lord and we ask You to give us victory in our lives and overcoming power…in Jesus Name…Amen.