Not Of This World

Philippians 4:8 

Finally, my brothers and sisters, always think about what is true.

Think about what is noble, right and pure.

Think about what is lovely and worthy of respect.

If anything is excellent or worthy of praise, think about those kinds of things.

Romans 12:2 

Don't live any longer the way this world lives.

Let your way of thinking be completely changed.

Then you will be able to test what God wants for you.

And you will agree that what He wants is right.

His plan is good and pleasing and perfect.

As Christians, we are to put aside worldly things and live for God. Sometimes this is easy, sometimes this is hard.....very hard. It may mean giving up that exciting or funny TV show that just doesn't share your values or not listening to that fabulous artist because the lyrics aren't quite pure. Satan likes to trick us by saying “Oh, it's just a song or just a TV show. It's not real” But whatever we put into our eyes, ears, and minds shows up in our lives. When we decide to fully live for God, as all Christ-followers should, we need to give up anything that does not glorify God. Now, I'm not saying that everything has to be expressly about God. Just make sure that it doesn't take away from God. There are many good songs out there that don't mention God but they don't take away from Him either. God expects us to have fun. Enjoy that song or TV show that is wholesome. If you find yourself making excuses for it, “Well, all the songs aren't like that” or “Yeah, the show isn't quite Christ-like but the main character is soooo funny!”, then you should let it go. Remember the old adage?

 

– Garbage in, garbage out –

 

How can you live your life full of purity and righteousness if you are putting something different in?

My husband is going through this right now. He is a singer/songwriter/musician. Music is his life. He has a very extensive CD collection that he has accumulated over 20 years. Most of it is heavy rock music. He was convicted earlier this year about having this music that does not glorify God. He knew he needed to get rid of it. But the musician in him had a hard time letting go. This is a major part of his life but he decided that God was more important and I am very proud of him. He is getting rid of most of his secular collection. By the time he's gone through it all, he will probably have got rid of over 150 CD's. In addition, he has decided to let go of his concert T-shirts and music magazines. If it is at all against God, it is going to be gone. This is very, very hard for him but it is necessary. He is currently building a new CD collection. All Contemporary Christian music. And he is finding he is enjoying it much more than he did his old collection. He is putting off the world and embracing Christ even more. I am so proud of him. God has great plans for him but he needs to fully commit to God. And he is doing that.

We need to no longer live the way the world lives and we need to put into our minds whatever is noble, right and pure. We need to live fully for God. And make the sacrifices we need to make. God will honor those sacrifices and our lives will be full of joy and peace of heart. We don't need the things of the world to fill our lives, only God. Only He can satisfy.