Proverbs 23:7 says “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he”

In the technology world they have a phrase that is used to describe poor quality work. It is “garbage in, garbage out”.  This term is used to express the idea that incorrect or poor quality input will always produce faulty output.  The same is true about what we put into our minds and our actions.

If you are struggling with any sin, all you need to do is examine what you are letting into your mind.

1. Be Careful What You Look At & Listen To

Our connection to the external world is through our five  senses (sight, touch, smell, taste, hearing) Its with our senses that we know what is going on around us.  Inevitably, the things we allow to come through our five senses end up in our minds. We can guard our minds by being conscious about what we let into our minds through our senses. For example, if you struggle with lust you will need to guard your eyes being careful not to allow lustful images into your mind. If your struggle is agains smoking and you are trying to quit, it would be beneficial not to hang around smokers or go into laces where you can smell the aroma or cigarettes. Guard your mind by not allowing your five senses to receive negative inputs from the world.

2. Be Careful What You Meditate On

Meditate is the same thing as thinking about something. After an input comes into your mind, the battle is not completely lost. You still have a choice if you are going to accept that input or reject. When we meditate (our think) about something we are using our minds and cognitive abilities to imagine something happening. We chose to allow our minds to use the inputs that it received through our senses to create whatever scenario we choose. But we have a choice! I heard a quote before that goes like this. “ We might not be able to stop the birds from flying over our hear. But we can prevent them from building a nest on our heads”. What His is saying is, as we live in this world we can try to limit the amount of negative inputs that come through our senses, but occasionally some may enter our minds. Even though that might happen, we don’t have to allow those thoughts to take root in our minds. We don’t have to think about them. A strategy that I use when a thought comes into my mind and I start to think about it too much is to start to speak out loud. Our minds cannot think about two things at the same time. When we speak (audible out loud) our minds focus on the words we are saying and we loose track of the other thoughts. Try this the next time that your mind is wondering or meditating on a negative input.

3. Be Careful Where You Go

Don’t put yourself in position to be exposed to letting something into your senses or even worse don’t put yourself in a position to fall.
Most of the time when we fall, it’s because we want that sin. James 1:14 says, “But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.” (ESV‬‬)
We sometimes still have a desire for that sin and although we are born again Christians we still need to crucify the flesh daily. It’s the old man that is in us from before we gave our lives to Jesus that will continue to try and rise up. The bible says in 1 John 4:4 that “…for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”  But it is up to us to allow the Greater One in us to be stronger than the old man (our flesh) that should be dying in us.

Always fall back on scripture when you feel weak. Remember that God has made a way of escape for you as He promised in
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭10:13‬.

“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”

Always look for the way out. And I have given you some practical strategies to help in this article. I want you to live victorious and accomplish all that God has for you. His plans for you are of good and not to harm you. To establish you and give you a bright future.

To know what he wants you to do better and where he wants you to go, I’ve created a free guide with four simple ways to know when God is directing you. It’s a quick read and you can download it now by entering your email address below or clicking here.

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Be great today and don’t let anything stop you.
Blessings