The eye is the light of the body. If your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. If your eye is bad, your whole body will be dark. If the light in you is dark, how dark it will be! ~ Matthew 6:22-23, NLV

When I was little there was a song that we used to sing that quoted the verse above. It went as follows…

Be careful little eyes what you see/There’s a lot of bad things on your TV/Be careful little ears what you hear/Turn the channel if you think the Devil is near

For the eye is the lamp of the body/In Matthew 6:22, we’re told/And if the eyes are good/Your whole body will be full of light

Years later I still recall those verses of truth. The song, so simple; yet, it taught us, even as children, to guard our hearts & minds from things we shouldn’t be watching or listening to. I think that often, as adults, we think we can watch or listen to whatever we want because we’re adults, mature, or because we have the “freedom” to do so. However, the Bible teaches us otherwise.

In Galatians 5:13a Paul reminds us that we “were chosen to be free. Be careful that you do not please your old selves by sinning because you are free.” Peter also reminds us, in 1 Peter 2:16 (NLT) “For you are free, yet you are God’s slaves, so don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do evil.”

And let’s not forget that Philippians 4:8 tells us to “keep your minds thinking about whatever is true, whatever is respected, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever can be loved, and whatever is well thought of. If there is anything good and worth giving thanks for, think about these things.”

These verses make me very particular about what I watch, read, or listen to, and they should! Have you ever heard of that saying, “garbage in, garbage out”? The Bible also calls it reaping what you sow (Galatians 6:7-8). When we fill up on impure garbage, it infiltrates every area of our lives: our relationship with Christ, our marriage, and our relationship with our children, neighbors, and friends. Luke 6:45 (NIV) says that “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart,” and “the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” Which begs the questions: what are you filling up on? What’s coming out of your mouth? And how are you treating the people around you?

“But everybody’s watching/reading/listening to it! I don’t want to be left out!” you may be thinking.

However, the Bible calls us to be holy and set apart for His good works (2 Timothy 2:21). It doesn’t call us to be like everybody else or to fit in with everybody else. In 1 Peter 2:9, in fact, we’re called a chosen people, royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession, some versions even call us a peculiar people. (We’re supposed to be weird!) 😀

Lastly, let’s nail our final excuse to the cross…”but that’s so hard!!” The Word never tells us to do anything on our own. We’re to be led and empowered by the Spirit to live according to His plan and purpose for us. And we’re not talking about some meek powerless god we serve here, we’re talking about the Creator of the universe, the same Spirit of God which raised Christ from the dead, for which nothing is impossible!

I say this to you: Let the Holy Spirit lead you in each step. Then you will not please your sinful old selves.  The things our old selves want to do are against what the Holy Spirit wants. The Holy Spirit does not agree with what our sinful old selves want. These two are against each other. So you cannot do what you want to do.  If you let the Holy Spirit lead you, the Law no longer has power over you.  The things your sinful old self wants to do are: sex sins, sinful desires, wild living,  worshiping false gods, witchcraft, hating, fighting, being jealous, being angry, arguing, dividing into little groups and thinking the other groups are wrong, false teaching,  wanting something someone else has, killing other people, using strong drink, wild parties, and all things like these. I told you before and I am telling you again that those who do these things will have no place in the holy nation of God.  But the fruit that comes from having the Holy Spirit in our lives is: love, joy, peace, not giving up, being kind, being good, having faith,  being gentle, and being the boss over our own desires. The Law is not against these things.  Those of us who belong to Christ have nailed our sinful old selves on His cross. Our sinful desires are now dead. ~ Galatians 6:16-24, NLV

“So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls” (James 1:21, NLT)!