What we take into our bodies affects, to a tremendous extent, the state of our physical health. Similarly, the thoughts and images we allow into our minds will define our character and who we are as a person.
Our five senses—sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste—are the gateways to the mind. All our decision-making processes are based on what these five senses relay to our brains. Through these physical senses, information becomes a part of our mind, and become lodged in the very core of our psyche. If we have the Holy Spirit, it will help us process the signals that come to our brain, showing us what is good and beneficial and what is bad and harmful. To protect our minds, we need to fortify the gates by which Satan and his world continually strive to send us messages through our five senses.
The Devil is a master at advertising his wares. The media broadcast his attitudes around the world through movies, television, radio and the Internet. Satan is the prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2–3). Sex sells, and advertisers use it to peddle everything from toothpaste to trucks. Today's song lyrics often involve violence and illicit sex, and these words and attitudes are mirrored in the news we see and hear each day. Countless millions are victims of the real-life attitudes found in so much popular entertainment today. These influences constantly bombard our senses. They can seduce us and chip away at our character, even if we are part of God's Church. We must guard the doorways into the mind. "But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death" (James 1:14–15). Satan wants to lead our thoughts down paths where Christ would never allow His mind to travel.
What are the media constantly feeding the unwary, and why is Satan encouraging it? "Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God" (Galatians 5:19–21). The devil's goal is to seduce human beings— including those in God's Church— into practicing evil. Satan knows that his time ruling this world is limited, and that he will soon be replaced by Jesus Christ, the Father's firstborn Son, who will rule the Kingdom of God—assisted by His spiritual younger brothers and sisters. Satan wants to thwart God's plan for humanity by luring as many people as he can into living contrary to their Creator's laws.
Our eyes and ears are the major gateways into the mind, through which Satan tries to influence us to succumb to our carnal, human, fleshly desires. The human brain is a marvelous instrument that stores all our experiences—good and bad—so God warns us to protect and defend it against Satan's attacks. All the evil we see portrayed, and all the off-color "jokes" we hear, are indelibly etched into our minds, where we can recall them as easily as a computer opens a saved file. With the wrong prompting from television, the movies, radio or the Internet, all those evil images and thoughts can come flooding back into our minds, into the forefront of our thoughts.
Tools for Defense
How can we defend ourselves? King David gives us a vital key to establishing our first line of defense: "I will set nothing wicked before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me" (Psalm 101:3). The prophet Isaiah also offers good advice: "He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, he who despises the gain of oppressions, who gestures with his hands, refusing bribes, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed, and shuts his eyes from seeing evil, he will dwell on high; his place of defense will be the fortress of rocks; bread will be given him, his water will be sure" (Isaiah 33:15–16).
With the media offering so many temptations over the airwaves each day, we must remain fully prepared to face Satan's insidious onslaught. We will not succeed in resisting these temptations unless we arm ourselves each morning, noon and evening with prayer and the word of God. "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:10–12).
Some will say, "I can handle my television and Internet viewing, and an occasional night out at the movies won't hurt me." That may be true for some, but many of us can too easily become affected by—even addicted to—what we see and hear. When in doubt, the best approach is to abstain from these media until we know we have developed the character— the mental, emotional and spiritual maturity—to select the programming Jesus Christ would be willing to sit down and watch with us. "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever" (1 John 2:15–17).
The Apostle Paul succinctly described the human condition of Christians who struggle daily against the forces of evil that assail them. "I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin" (Romans 7:21–25).
Don't Begin a Bad Habit
Our flesh is weak, and we must remember that it is easier to begin a bad habit than to get rid of it. Once we let our minds become infected by Satan's influence, we will have to struggle mightily to fight our way back to the light from the dark side of our lustful human nature. "Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse; he who guards his soul will be far from them" (Proverbs 22:5).
The mind is the seat of God's Spirit in us. To keep it clean, we must flush out the wrong thoughts and ideas that come into it. We do this by flooding our brains with the word of God, and by walking with Him every waking moment. We do this by being instant in prayer whenever Satan's wrong messages reach our eyes and ears. The devil has no power over us, except for that which we grant him. "Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded" (James 4:7–8).
When we find ourselves being tempted to sin in mind or body, it is not enough merely to turn away from sin; we must turn toward our God. He promises that as we do so, the very peace of God will guard our hearts and minds, through Christ, our Savior (Philippians 4:7). In the "model prayer," Jesus gave us a powerful weapon against Satan. When we are tempted, we can follow this model in our own mind and adapt it to our particular trial: "In this manner, therefore, pray: our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And do not [allow us to be led] into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen" (Matthew 6:9–13).
As you apply Jesus' words in your own life, you will be reminded instantly of your Christian goal and of God's purpose for your existence. Your mind will become refreshed and settled. "Flee sexual immorality [mentally and physically]. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body, but he who committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. Or do ye not know that your body [and mind] is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, that ye have from God, and ye are not your own?" (1 Corinthians 6:18–19, ASV).
Yes, evil is all around us in this dying world, but Christ gave us the means to resist that evil. We need to have the mind of Christ, our sinless Savior who suffered and died for us (1 Peter 4:1). We have been offered the marvelous opportunity to be in the first and better resurrection and to help Jesus Christ restore righteousness to the earth "and [He] has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen" (Revelation 1:6). Why would we sell our birthright for the poisonous bowl of soup that is this world's satanic entertainment, which offers us nothing but a temporary titillation of the senses? Let us all focus on viewing only programming that is uplifting, and let us redouble our efforts to resist viewing and hearing the evil that pervades the Internet, television, movies and radio. We know that to be carnally minded leads to death, but if we guard our minds by using God's Spirit, we will have life and peace (Romans 8:6). As we do so, we will be preparing for Tomorrow's World, which our Father is so eager to give us.