Will You Take the Garbage Out?

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Garbage is a major problem in this country! There is so much of it the major cities scarcely know how to get rid of it. And what is the case nationwide is true on a much smaller scale in every household. It just seems to accumulate so rapidly. While we’d rather not have any of it in our houses at all, yet facing reality, it’s there. Thus, almost every husband has heard his wife say many times, "Honey, will you take the garbage out?". So he takes the garbage out to the curb and lets someone else deal with it.

What is a far greater problem in our country today, though, is "mental garbage!".  And facing reality, there is such an avalanche of it that it is becoming almost impossible to keep it all out of our minds. This present world is so filled with spiritual contaminates and pollutants that it is unbelievable. In that regard, we indeed live in dangerous times! There is so much evil extant, and Satan is such a master of deception (Revelation 12:9), that he manages to get some of his garbage into our minds without our even realizing it. He can, with all his devices (II Corinthians 2:11), dupe us, and seduce us from God, if we are not extremely careful!  He can entice people to feast on spiritual garbage, instead of casting it out.

Mental Garbage

In particular, I make reference to what people See, Hear, and Read. 

1. First, let us note what people see. So many of the movies (and television programs also!) are saturated with lascivious content. Lasciviousness is "that which tends to produce lewd emotions." And certainly the same is true in the matter of sexually oriented/ pornographic magazines. Such "junk" is nothing but mental garbage. Read what the apostle Paul said about it in Galatians 5:19-20.  And yet, many Christians falter in this matter of carelessness in what is viewed.
   
2. Second, many teenagers and young adults listen to more "garbage" masquerading under the guise of music. So much "noise" is highly suggestive and often specific... a verbal exercise in degeneracy! Add to this the constant barrage of vulgarities, obscenities, and curse words used so openly in our society, and you can readily see that large doses of "mental garbage" are tossed into people’s minds every day.
   
3. Third, the sale of trashy, sex dominated novels is a billion dollar industry in our country. Add to that what can be read in most any of the magazines that are displayed in grocery stories, drug stores, etc. Folks who should know better purchase this garbage for mental consumption.
   

Every Christian family  and every individual Christian needs to 
sit down and make a determination
"to take the garbage out!". 

The Bible tells us: "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life" (Proverbs 4:23).  It also tells us: "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things" (Philippians 4:8).

Will you take the garbage out? 

This is something each of us must deal with personally. We can’t shift the responsibility personally. Let’s clean up our minds and hearts and get rid of the garbage as best we possibly can, and keep it out!

– M. B. Boren, September 2001 --