Garbage in Garbage Out

There is the old saying "Garbage in Garbage out." I can also think of the old saying "You are what you eat". Both of these sayings convey the idea that whatever we put into our lives, than that is who we are or who we will become. It is pretty easy to understand but yet so many of us think that is not an issue in our lives. So many of us have been in the garbage so long we think it is treasure! You may not think the garbage is not a big deal, but eventually it will come to the surface whether you want to or not.

This principle of garbage in garbage out is very clear in the Bible. In Galatians 6:7-8 it says, " Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life." (NIV) Also Jesus addresses this issue when he says in the book of Luke "The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart .For out the overflow of his heart the mouth speaks." (Luke 6:45 NIV) Both of these verses say exactly what is true, if all your doing is putting bad things in your life, then guess what, bad things will come out. I heard it described this way. Imagine your heart and emotions like a full cup of water. We fill it up with whatever we want. It can be good things or bad things. If someone where to bump that cup what would happen? Would bad things come out and splash that person, or would good things come out and bless that person.

This culture is all about relativity. What is true for me is true for me and whatever is true to you is true to you. I am not going to judge you because that is what you believe. Well the word of God is pretty clear what the garbage is. The Bible talks a lot of the things of this world. It even says that we are to be of this world but not of this world. I will talk more about this next week in Double Agent. The garbage is anything that comes against God or is damaging to us or others. You want to talk about some TV shows we watch, the music we listen to, the things we allow others to speak into our lives, and other things, these things can be garbage. Remember garbage in garbage out. We all need to constantly take a survey of what we are allowing into our into our hearts and minds. This is especially true of teenagers. They are so open to new things and will receive many things into their lives.

So what are you allowing to come into your life? A good place to start is what are you looking at or listening to that is affecting you. You may think it will not affect you that much. It may be true that a little bit never hurt no one, but come on you know that if you let a little more into your life you are going to want more. Everyone is different on exactly what is good for them and not for others. That is between you and God. Some things are more obvious than others. You have to allow God to convict you about those things in your life. Sometimes it can be hard to get rid of the garbage even when we realize it is there. We have allowed it to be there so long we don't even know what is like to live without it. If you need I would suggest bringing someone along side of you that can help you. They can pray for you and give you support when you need it.

Don't allow the garbage to be apart of your life. It will come to the surface eventually. Ask God to help you put things in your life that are of him. When you do that you will find peace, reassurance, and you will feel so much better about your yourself. More than that though you are keeping an open relationship with God and giving him glory and honor in how you live your life. That is worth more to me than any pile of garbage.