A Mind is a Precious Thing to Waste

Real Simple

This post may be unpopular. But the Spirit is burning in my heart, and I feel compelled to speak.

Consider the strength of your mind. Your mind is among the most valuable things you have, for "As a man thinks in his heart, so he is." Our minds set the course of our lives.

Our hearts follow our minds. And they are the wellspring of our lives. Out of our hearts, we live life in Christ. Out of our hearts, the Spirit flows to others. "Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." John 7:38

So what we think on affects our hearts and therefore, our entire being. It affects our ability to be at peace and remain focused. Our capacity to reflect and express Him. Our influence.

We are governed by our thoughts.

"Finally, {sisters}, whatever is true,
whatever is noble, whatever is right,
whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable
—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—
think about such things." Philippians 4:8

For some time now, I have noticed a trend among our generation and our culture as a whole. And I have been waiting and wondering who in the Church is speaking to this issue...for it is a cancer of the mind.

I haven't heard it addressed, and so I am compelled to challenge both myself and you with this:

We are steeping our minds in filth. And we call it entertainment.

We are mesmerized by the lives of famous people. The same celebrities who deny our God with their lips and pagan lifestyles.

We are addicted to following their lifestyles through magazines, tv, and the internet.

We are filling our mind with the antithesis of all we hold dear. Would we want our children to feast on the same mental diet of promiscuity, sensuality, marital unfaithfulness, arrogance, vanity, greed, lust, homosexuality, bisexuality, rebellion, drugs, perversion, eating disorders, and enslavement to materialism?


Neither does God want his kids.

"You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely?" James 4:4 - 6a

On Sunday our pastor Dr. David Cooper was preaching on Psalm 1. While not specifically naming this celebrity-obsession, he said, "We've been brought in from the kingdom of darkness and bondage to sin. Why go out and 'stand in the way of sinners'? Why go out and study and follow their lifestyles?

They {the media} will market and advertise the world. Do not take a second look at the path and direction of the world."

We have been called out of the world. And we need the fullness of our minds and hearts to live this new life.

Make a clean break. I implore you on behalf of Christ, stop buying "People {Exploited}" magazine in the checkout line. Cancel your subscription to US Weekly. By all means, turn off TMZ and Entertainment Tonight. Don't waste your precious moments visiting celebrity gossip websites. *THEY ARE NOT NEWS.* They are tabloids. Let's stop kidding ourselves, and raise our eyes and minds to the standard for which we have been bought.

I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Ephesians 4:1

He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. 2 Corinthians 5:15

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

James 1:27