Taking Stock of What's Filling Your Mind
By Kelly Balarie
Bible Reading:
“People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.” – 2 Timothy 3:2-5 NIV
I opened Facebook on my phone... and, there it is – front and center – a juicy, salacious problem that a woman in my town was facing...
It reads something like this: “I found out my daughter’s best friend has been gossiping about my daughter behind her back. She wrote horrible things about me and my daughter on social media. I am best friends with this girl’s mom and have talked to her various times about her gossiping daughter. The mom doesn’t seem to care. What do I do?”
Below the post follow hundreds of comments... Comments filled with accusations, comments that blame the moms, comments that offer advice of every variety, comments that include an infinite number of ways to retaliate.
I scroll through it all…
Worldly advice, ungodly comments, and attack statements fill my eyes. I scroll and scroll and scroll. People say things like, "Who raises a girl like this?! Why didn’t that mom…? She should take that girl and…"
Later in the day, another post from that group page pops up. I can’t help but think, What’s happening now?
There are a variety of posts…
A mom is furious because a teacher is saying her preschooler hits.
A lady is offended that her neighbor wants the truth about Santa kept hidden. She is upset that this woman wants to restrict what her own kids can or cannot say.
A business lady knows she’s getting ripped off because she’s not getting the same pay as a co-worker.
These posts – and the thought processes of a million other offended people fill my mind.
For some reason, this has become a daily routine: After time with God and getting the kids ready, I check Facebook group pages.
Yet, this morning, as I headed down the stairs after waking, a question occurred to me: Is filling my mind with these posts and the world’s comments good for me?
The truth is, if I fill my mind with hate, I train my mind to think thoughts of hate, and, because I think thoughts of hate – I will act out with hate. If I fill my mind with offense, I will feel offended and react with offense. If I conform to the thoughts of Facebook, my mind will be transformed to think like the world.
Is this God’s heart for me?
How I think and the actions I take are largely fed by what my eyes read and what my ears hear.
Even more, scripture talks about how people will be at the end days.
It says, “People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.” (2 Timothy 3:2-5 NIV)
To read worldly comments is to fill my mind with worldly mentalities, that are often contrary to God. Reading fosters thinking, which forms our actions and reactions.
In this, what if I was to replace the words of man with the Word of God? What if I allocated the time I spent on those social media pages with time in prayer, time memorizing bible verses or time thanking God for what He has done for me?
How powerful might that be in my life? How might my mind think in ways that are less offended, less judgmental, less annoyed – and more like Christ?
It is hard to be transformed when we are renewing our mind in the ways of the world, but it is easy to be transformed when we renew our mind in godly ways.
Intersecting Faith & Life:
Is there anything you are seeing or hearing that isn’t benefiting you? Is there anything that is filling you with the world? What would it look like for you to exchange that thing for a new godly habit? How can you make room to read the Word of God more? How might you pray or praise instead?
Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/Inside Creative House
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