Garbage in, garbage out

Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word (Psalm 119:37).

Garbage in, garbage out. This is one of the first lessons I learned about computer programming. Computers rely on accurate information to produce useful results. If you start with flawed data, the results you get will range from deceptively misleading to dangerously wrong. A computer is limited in its usefulness by the person who programs it.

Garbage in, garbage out. This principle applies to our minds as well. If you load your brain with lies and half-truths, you cannot make good decisions. If you spend a lot of time looking at pornography or reading smut, you’ll tend to look at others as playthings instead of individuals who have rights and feelings. If you frequently read bloggers or listen to talkshow hosts who take aggressive stands on extreme positions, you will be less inclined to listen or work together when others disagree with you.

We are bombarded with information every single day. People try to influence your opinion through roadside billboards, TV commercials, magazine advertisements, and pop-ups on the Internet. The songs you listen to, the editorials you read, the newscasters that you watch all exert an influence on your thinking.

You know how bad eating habits can ruin your body’s health. When you make a steady diet of unhealthy ideas, it damages your soul. If the world convinces you that lying is okay in some instances, you start ignoring God’s command to stick with the truth. If a popular celebrity persuades you to adopt a non-Christian religion as your own, their bad influence will cost you eternity in heaven!

We need to be selective in what we read and listen to. If a song promotes selfish behavior, listen to something else. If some talking head makes a habit out of peddling fear or hatred, get your news from another source. If a magazine features articles that glorify irresponsible behavior, put it down and walk away. Most of all, we have to make time for the critically important information that is found exclusively in the Bible. Only the Word of God can purge away the rot of the mental garbage which we are fed each and every day.