I saw a poster on Pinterest and with all that's going on in the media and entertainment industry, it struck a chord... Hard.
I think that we often let the world and society dictate what we should accept and deny. At the risk of sounding like the elders (who know what they're talking about with this one), you DO have to be careful what you allow into your space. That includes your mind, heart, body and soul. That young and invincible thing is real! And no, it isn't just us, generation Y. Everybody goes through this No one, in their youth, wants to listen to their elders. It seems wack and the things they say sometimes seem irrelevant and outdated, but take heed to this one. It's serious.
You are not invincible. You are affected by the things, people, and spaces around you. Music. Movies. Television. Food. People (family, friends, and strangers). What you allow into your space can have a tremendous, lasting impact on your more than just your mood. My first year at Howard University, I was in a class that about to begin when a young lady stormed into the room, obviously enraged. The rest of us were stunned and just watched as chairs and desks fell over in her wake. A young man in my class stood up and said, "that just stressed me out. I need some trail mix." and he left to get some trail mix. Lol. I thought it was hilarious and it was. He known for eating a lot of trail mix. Who ever heard of trail mix as comfort food, but I digress...
Sure, it was funny, but how often do we find ourselves indulging in things (in places, eating food, listening to music, watching television or movies) that negatively affect our inner man and regardless of whether or not we put ourselves in that situation it affects us. We think it's just our current mood and that maybe, like my classmate, it stresses us out enough to need a trail mix fix, but when things enter our head space, they linger. I want you to know that this isn't a post about kicking people out of your life. It's about more than people.
Watch your own thoughts as well. Sometimes, it seems things slip out, but if it's coming out of you, it must have made its way in there somehow and it's your responsibility to recognize these things and ask God to help you get rid of it. Family, everything from the food you eat to the route you take to and from school and work can have either a positive or negative impact on your life. Examine your life and everything in it. Your family and friends circle. The music on your iPod. The movies on your Netflix watch list. The things in your Amazon cart.
*Before I prove this point, I need to say something. I know this might seem weird, but I'm a believer in science. I believe that science doesn't disprove God, but in fact, actually makes Him cooler and provides a tiny explanation for some of the amazing things He's done and is doing. For instance, what makes the trees' leaves green? Chlorophyll, right? God put a chemical that not only keeps the leaves green for a time, but also breaks down to give them the colors we recognize as harvest and fall colors. That's detail. That's science! THAT'S GOD!*
Okay, I'm back. It's been proven numerous times by numerous scientists and/or researchers that as humans, EVERYTHING affects us. Think about the last song [that you couldn't sit still through] made you feel. Was it the bass line? Maybe, it was the lyrics? Or the drum beat? Either way, you were affected. And the last movie you saw? It seems most of the people on my timeline have seen the latest movies, because my feed is chock full of opinions and statements about them. AFFECTED. Even our politics, guys, can be a kind of entertainment for our minds and spirits (in this context).
Knowing these things, why do we allow the world, society, "the man" to decide what is okay and what is not okay for our consumption? What was it about explicit lyrics that our parents didn't want us listening to as children? What about the movies with too much violence or sex? Are we somehow adult enough to handle it now and be unaffected? Nah, fam.
You know, the more you indulge in a thing that you knew the first time was wrong, the less you believe it's wrong. At some point, you begin to rationalize your indulgence or try to reconcile or bargain it with the part of you that knows it's wrong.
When I was a child, I used to say to my mom, after the watching the news, "I don't understand why he murdered that man." She'd say, "why do you want to understand that, if you know it's wrong?" Family, it's one thing to be understanding and empathize with the pain of the root of sin, but it's another to indulge in it, knowing it's consequences and impact on you and everyone that's attached to you in some way.
Guard your hearts against things that mock God's values and desensitizes you to immorality, crime and other sins.
Proverbs 4:23 "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it."
Jeremiah 6:15 "Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when I punish them, says the Lord."
Ephesians 4:19 "Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed."
I think that we often let the world and society dictate what we should accept and deny. At the risk of sounding like the elders (who know what they're talking about with this one), you DO have to be careful what you allow into your space. That includes your mind, heart, body and soul. That young and invincible thing is real! And no, it isn't just us, generation Y. Everybody goes through this No one, in their youth, wants to listen to their elders. It seems wack and the things they say sometimes seem irrelevant and outdated, but take heed to this one. It's serious.
You are not invincible. You are affected by the things, people, and spaces around you. Music. Movies. Television. Food. People (family, friends, and strangers). What you allow into your space can have a tremendous, lasting impact on your more than just your mood. My first year at Howard University, I was in a class that about to begin when a young lady stormed into the room, obviously enraged. The rest of us were stunned and just watched as chairs and desks fell over in her wake. A young man in my class stood up and said, "that just stressed me out. I need some trail mix." and he left to get some trail mix. Lol. I thought it was hilarious and it was. He known for eating a lot of trail mix. Who ever heard of trail mix as comfort food, but I digress...
Sure, it was funny, but how often do we find ourselves indulging in things (in places, eating food, listening to music, watching television or movies) that negatively affect our inner man and regardless of whether or not we put ourselves in that situation it affects us. We think it's just our current mood and that maybe, like my classmate, it stresses us out enough to need a trail mix fix, but when things enter our head space, they linger. I want you to know that this isn't a post about kicking people out of your life. It's about more than people.
Watch your own thoughts as well. Sometimes, it seems things slip out, but if it's coming out of you, it must have made its way in there somehow and it's your responsibility to recognize these things and ask God to help you get rid of it. Family, everything from the food you eat to the route you take to and from school and work can have either a positive or negative impact on your life. Examine your life and everything in it. Your family and friends circle. The music on your iPod. The movies on your Netflix watch list. The things in your Amazon cart.
*Before I prove this point, I need to say something. I know this might seem weird, but I'm a believer in science. I believe that science doesn't disprove God, but in fact, actually makes Him cooler and provides a tiny explanation for some of the amazing things He's done and is doing. For instance, what makes the trees' leaves green? Chlorophyll, right? God put a chemical that not only keeps the leaves green for a time, but also breaks down to give them the colors we recognize as harvest and fall colors. That's detail. That's science! THAT'S GOD!*
Okay, I'm back. It's been proven numerous times by numerous scientists and/or researchers that as humans, EVERYTHING affects us. Think about the last song [that you couldn't sit still through] made you feel. Was it the bass line? Maybe, it was the lyrics? Or the drum beat? Either way, you were affected. And the last movie you saw? It seems most of the people on my timeline have seen the latest movies, because my feed is chock full of opinions and statements about them. AFFECTED. Even our politics, guys, can be a kind of entertainment for our minds and spirits (in this context).
Knowing these things, why do we allow the world, society, "the man" to decide what is okay and what is not okay for our consumption? What was it about explicit lyrics that our parents didn't want us listening to as children? What about the movies with too much violence or sex? Are we somehow adult enough to handle it now and be unaffected? Nah, fam.
You know, the more you indulge in a thing that you knew the first time was wrong, the less you believe it's wrong. At some point, you begin to rationalize your indulgence or try to reconcile or bargain it with the part of you that knows it's wrong.
When I was a child, I used to say to my mom, after the watching the news, "I don't understand why he murdered that man." She'd say, "why do you want to understand that, if you know it's wrong?" Family, it's one thing to be understanding and empathize with the pain of the root of sin, but it's another to indulge in it, knowing it's consequences and impact on you and everyone that's attached to you in some way.
Guard your hearts against things that mock God's values and desensitizes you to immorality, crime and other sins.
Proverbs 4:23 "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it."
Jeremiah 6:15 "Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when I punish them, says the Lord."
Ephesians 4:19 "Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed."
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