GARBAGE IN, GARBAGE OUT: PART I-One day, it will show
“Be not deceived God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man sows that he will also reap” Galatians 6:7
What forms the beliefs and convictions of a human being is the material he or she allows into his or her life. Knowledge is the end product of what we see, hear and read and are eventually able to recall. This reminds us that what we allow our minds to dwell on will in one way or another have an effect on our lives, music, social media, books, television and so on. No matter how hard or for how long you try to conceal the trash you have been feeding yourself with, eventually some way, somehow it will show. “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” Matthew 12:34
A lot of young people are beginning to live exactly like the music they listen to, the movies they watch and the books they read. If the principle of garbage in, garbage out is true for every human being, and I strongly believe it is, then it is high time we began to screen and be cautious about what we feed our minds with. People become what the most important people in their lives say they will become, parents, musicians, friends, and teachers and so on.
Job 11:12 says “An empty headed man will be wise when a wild donkey’s colt is born a man.” That means you can no way be wise if you need feed your head with wisdom nor associate with the wise. Believe it or not you are a product of what you feed your mind with. The mind will always dwell on what it is fed with and as we saw earlier ‘as a man thinketh so is he’.
At this point pause for a second and ask yourself; what is contained in the materials I am reading? What is the music I am listening to all about? What is the stuff I am watching all about? Who am I allowing to speak into my life? When you answer those questions then know this for a fact. If you continue down the road, feeding your mind with the same material, your life will eventually become what you feed your mind with and that is exactly what will be coming out of you, through the mouth and through your actions.
So the bottom line is this; if it’s garbage you are taking in, garbage you will bring out. Psalm 1:1 says “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat the scornful.” That scripture goes out to everyone in the habit of listening to music that contains filth and ungodly themes or watching and reading any material of that nature. The fact of the matter is there’s a level of counsel going on as you inject that material in your mind. You do the math. MOVE
GARBAGE IN, GARBAGE OUT: PART II-Television, friend or foe?
“The Only vision kids seem to have nowadays is television.”
I almost deleted this chapter but then I remembered that some teenager that idolizes TV might get their hands on this book and I’ll deny them a teachable moment. Parents and married people that underestimate the power and influence of TV may get to read it, so I left it in here. Television can be a friend or enemy to progress depending on what you do with it. Television is one invention that has brought entertainment and news from around the world to our doorstep. With the increase in television stations our generation is heavily spoilt for choice, with so many channels to surf through, people sit in front of the black box all day just watching TV. Business promoters and advertisers seem to be maximizing on our soft spot for TV and it’s paying off, at least for them. Television is able to persuade ,motivate and inspire someone depending on what material is being aired. Television is literally raising kids in our generation as parents neglect their parenting duties in the name of chasing a dream or building a career. Another group of people that seem to have captured this are television evangelists, who are now seeing millions touched by their messages through television. Well what significance does television have to you as an individual bearing in mind what it is capable of?
Some people arrive late for work or school because they stayed up late watching television. Others end up failing exams because they spent three quarters of their time on watching television. Some people spend precious time on television that can be used to improve their lifestyle. Some newlyweds rob themselves an opportunity to bond and learn each other by diving into TV shows every night.
Some marriage counselors tell newlyweds to either avoid too much TV or completely avoid it for at least the first year of their marriage and I totally agree with them. With the TV in the house a couple will take the focus off of each other and draw their attention to what’s on the TV before they realize it, either both of them or one of them would have fallen asleep. God forbid that your nights should be closed by television when it should be closed in devotion and prayer. It’s not my intention to totally demonize TV and disregard its benefits. There are some great and educational channels on TV these days which can really be great for kids and grown-ups alike. There are also some great Christian channels with very edifying content that can be very good for a family. However, the essence of this chapter is really to show the destructive side that most people take too lightly and that ends up costing them a whole lot than what they paid for the black box.
It takes really high levels of discipline from individuals, parents, married couples to be able to regulate how much time they devote to watching television, more so what content they expose themselves to.
Well, the message is simple, a television set is a machine and you are a human being with the ability to think, choose and decide for yourself. Make sure that television does not become your taskmaster or a machine that brings filth into your home and corrupts your minds. If you must have a TV in the house, you must be able to carefully select the programmers that are really necessary for you to spend time watching. Not only that but you must also be able to select what you allow your mind to dwell on. Sadly it is becoming increasingly impossible in most homes where there’s more than one TV set or where the elderly only come home on the evenings and retire early leaving kids to watch TV without any guidance whatsoever.
Most of what is today called entertainment is nothing but illicit sex, witchcraft and violence which courts the mind. Do not let Hollywood or any other television industry make millions at the expense of you and your children’s morality or at the expense of your marriage. Make sure the TV set is your partner in making progress in any endeavor and not a hindrance. You were created to rule and have dominion over all things that includes your TV set, do not let it rule or run your life, your marriage or your kids. MOVE