Do You Long For An More Christlike Heart?
We often can feel like we are failing at having the kind of relationship with God that he asks of us. It’s easy to get caught up in what is going on around us. It’s hard to put our ego aside and take a long hard look at our choices to decide if they align with God or even to quiet the chatter and listen for His direction.
Just because we are Christians, it doesn’t give us a free pass to live life however we want. In fact, being a Christian means a lot more work because we are regularly having to deny our bodies what they long for, that isn’t of God, and turn from sin. That sin is a constant. The nagging human aspect of our lives that take us away from God is the very thing we need to fight against daily. And it comes at us from all directions.
Garbage In - Garbage Out
When I was younger I often fought against the advice from people that said what I allowed into my life will reciprocate back into my actions. Surely that TV show or movie isn’t going to sway me away from what is right with God. And yeah I’m not going to murder someone just because I saw it on TV. But our minds are funny things. They take in so much of what is going on around us that we don’t realize how it affects us. We begin to rationalize what we are seeing or hearing and the behaviors we have unknowingly picked up as a result.
About a month or two ago, after doing my daily bible study, I felt this overwhelming need to clear out all secular music from my phone keeping only Christin based lyrics and themed songs. I don’t know what that was about other than, I was getting pretty tired of all the nonsense happening in the world and anything that didn’t point to God.
What I noticed is that:
Instead of some pointless secular song going through my head, at different points throughout the day, I constantly have praise and worship music filling it. So the music that comes from me is praise to God that fills me with hope and peace and love. Does that mean I think all secular music is bad and we shouldn’t listen to it? No. But I can think of plenty of songs and themes I don’t need in my life. Music is very powerful.
I also started eliminating many TV Shows, Movies, News and cutting way back on social media.
I already wasn’t a big fan of a lot of movies and shows. My tolerance now is at a zero tolerance. Why? Because I hate how they make me feel. I don’t like what I’m hearing or witnessing. I don’t like how we have normalized things we know are wrong for our own lives.
Now those things, for me, are like when you start eliminating salt from your diet. (Bear with me here, Jesus used parables too) But as you eliminate salt from your diet, everything becomes more salty. So the next time you put salt on something, it’s disgusting. That’s how I feel about most movies and TV shows. Now they are just gross to watch or listen to. So I avoid them. As a result, they don’t linger in my mind. I don’t dream about them. My heart is better at discerning both good and bad. I see the beauty and goodness in the world far more than I did before.
And I’m less stressed and negatively influenced by the news, social media and things that are often just lies and deceitfulness. What does that create? Peace, clarity, and a protective armor from this messed up world. I don’t have the same fear and worry. And I know that all the “stuff” happening in the world has been and will always be a part of life. But God conquered all of that already. What will be will be, what will come to pass will come to pass like it has before. Think this is all new? Read the Bible, none of this is new.
A Change Of Heart and Mind
The Bible talks about guarding our hearts. Our hearts are evil (Jeremiah 17:9, Matthew 15:19). So how are you guarding your heart? By allowing in God, or by allowing in the world? How many other areas in our lives open our hearts to evil?
I’m only using a couple of examples here and areas that I have found important to strengthen my walk. I know how this has changed my heart. Your walk with God is yours alone. The steps you believe God is asking you to take to live a life devoted to Him is between you and Him. What strengthens your relationship with Him and what the Bible asks of you is what is most important.
