Philippines 4:8 Finally, believers, whatever is true and authentic, whatever is honorable and worthy of respect, whatever is right and confirmed by God’s word, whatever is pure and wholesome… think continually on these things [center your mind on them, and implant them in your heart]. (AMP)
“The heart cannot rejoice in that which the mind rejects” – Kenneth Boa. A sanitized brain is the fence, fortress and fortitude of a pure heart. Purity of the heart is solely dependent on what the mind entertains. Dr. Daniel Amen says “the five sensory organs bring the world into your brain”. He goes on to explain that 30% of our brain function is dedicated to our vision. The brain picks up the rhythm of the environment and alters or tampers our moods. The images that we see prints as photographs in our brain and archives in the heart. The music and the movies that entertain us empowers our emotions. “What we focus our attention on, is how we will feel”. The brain leaves footprints in our mind and deposits in the heart.
An appalling statistics on pornography states that 35% of all internet downloads are related to porn. 34% of internet users are exposed to unsearched pornographic content through ads, pop-ups, emails or links and one third of the porn viewers are women. Recent outrageous statistics also confirm that 90% of the teenagers have viewed porn online! Job 31:1 “I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl.
Pure or unadulterated thoughts and wholesome or nourishing thoughts are the outcome of our choices. Any friendship that demands our discipline to be broken as an expression of compassion and companionship is not genuine. Many young adults struggle with the peer pressure and indulge in activities that are contrary to their credence and creed as they are oblivious to the “power of flight”.
Three tips to sabotage the ploy against purity:
- Run: Paul advised Timothy to flee from a place that lured him into sin. Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace (2 Timothy 2:22). Don’t engage in conversation with the tempter. When we try to rationalize, we will be fooled. Refusal to drinks or drugs does not need justification. Refuse to engage in the revelry entourage and run from profanity.
- Refocus: Refocusing on pure thoughts comes by ‘replacing’ and not by ‘reprimanding’. Humans are provoked to do what we are asked not to do. ‘The strategy of restriction’ failed in the ‘Garden of Eden’. Adam and Eve did exactly what they were warned “not to do”. Replacing the “Can’t” with “Can” helps with refocusing on what is holy, happy and healthy.
- Renew: Renewing the mind is to “Stop imitating the ideals and opinions of the culture around you, but be inwardly transformed by the Holy Spirit through a total reformation of how you think” (Romans 12:2 TPT). Write down your values and visions on a blackboard and recommit to it every morning. “What has been seen cannot be unseen, what has been learned cannot be unknown” but we can replace, refurbish and renovate our mind. Renewing the mind revamps the blood flow to the brain and wipes out the residue of the past.
Renew your mind on whatever is pure and wholesome and repair the adulteration and impurities.
Philippians 4:8b Think continually on these things.
Prayer: Dear Holy Spirit, renovate the rifts, rips and rust in my brain. Train my mind to renounce worldly passions, to have pure, pious and poignant thoughts. Amen
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