Chances are, you or a family member own a computer. You use it in your home or in the office. It is hard to imagine living life without one these days. They are wonderful when they’ve been given the right “input” – information, data and programs stored inside the hard drive. You just store everything you need and call it up whenever you need it: phone numbers, email addresses, documents for school, business information etc. Your computer can give you access to the internet where you can retrieve information from anywhere in the world. It is all there at your fingertips.
Unfortunately, the computer can be your enemy. It depends on what you have done with it. When you try to locate a document you need, you won’t find it unless you stored it there. The internet, with all its valuable information can also be a disaster. Garbage can be found in it – like pornography or disturbed people in the chat rooms looking out for potential victims.
Our minds work like sophisticated computers. They are laptops with great memory. They are portable and you take them with you wherever you go. Along the way, you store information in them: people you meet, books you read, pictures you see. Good or bad.
That is why we as Christians should be disciplined about what we invest in our minds & hearts. We do not feed on garbage. Remember GIGO – Garbage In, Garbage Out. We should work hard avoiding the wrong materials, so that what comes out – is right. We should work hard at investing the right materials (e.g. great speakers, encouraging music) inside. (Hint: the best material is obviously the Bible!) As humans, we naturally act on the stuff that fills our minds. We become preoccupied with thoughts & eventually we want to act on those thoughts. That is why so many rapes happen after men watched pornography night after night. And it explains the more violent tendencies of our children today – they are more exposed to violent scenes on TV. The Indiana University School of Medicine has studied how the images we see impact our brains. They found out that normal adolescents who had higher level of exposure to violence in the media had reduced levels of cognitive function. In other words, the more violence they saw, the less thinking, learning, reasoning & emotional stamina they have. The garbage they fed into their minds has affected what’s coming out. Their little laptop computer inside has stored the wrong information.
Be careful what you store inside your mind & heart. Remember: Garbage In, Garbage Out
Adapted from : Habitudes. Dr. Tim Elmore. © 2004 Campus Crusade Asia Limited. pp63-70
Unfortunately, the computer can be your enemy. It depends on what you have done with it. When you try to locate a document you need, you won’t find it unless you stored it there. The internet, with all its valuable information can also be a disaster. Garbage can be found in it – like pornography or disturbed people in the chat rooms looking out for potential victims.
Our minds work like sophisticated computers. They are laptops with great memory. They are portable and you take them with you wherever you go. Along the way, you store information in them: people you meet, books you read, pictures you see. Good or bad.
That is why we as Christians should be disciplined about what we invest in our minds & hearts. We do not feed on garbage. Remember GIGO – Garbage In, Garbage Out. We should work hard avoiding the wrong materials, so that what comes out – is right. We should work hard at investing the right materials (e.g. great speakers, encouraging music) inside. (Hint: the best material is obviously the Bible!) As humans, we naturally act on the stuff that fills our minds. We become preoccupied with thoughts & eventually we want to act on those thoughts. That is why so many rapes happen after men watched pornography night after night. And it explains the more violent tendencies of our children today – they are more exposed to violent scenes on TV. The Indiana University School of Medicine has studied how the images we see impact our brains. They found out that normal adolescents who had higher level of exposure to violence in the media had reduced levels of cognitive function. In other words, the more violence they saw, the less thinking, learning, reasoning & emotional stamina they have. The garbage they fed into their minds has affected what’s coming out. Their little laptop computer inside has stored the wrong information.
Be careful what you store inside your mind & heart. Remember: Garbage In, Garbage Out
Adapted from : Habitudes. Dr. Tim Elmore. © 2004 Campus Crusade Asia Limited. pp63-70
No comments:
Post a Comment