The Negative

What is film used for?  It is a tiny ribbon of amber material that captures an image forever.  I recently found photo negatives of my mom when she was a child.  Now I am not saying that was FOREVER.. but it was a long time.  The negatives still have the pictures that were imprinted on them nearly 50 years ago.  That's how our thoughts and our minds are.  That is how humans operate.  We hear something, see something, or act on something - and suddenly we begin to imitate that.  Just look at babies.  They aren't smart at 10 months old and just know that the two syllables ma-ma and dada mean Mommy and Daddy.  They are imitating you repeating it over and over to them.  They are wanting that approval from you.  Imitation is the highest form of flattery - but can also be the highest form of destruction.  

God has been teaching me a lot lately about myself and who I am becoming.  There are people that I surround myself with, TV shows that I watch, and things that I read that are not pure and virtuous. They are things that are bringing me down.  If you have noticed - I haven't been blogging about my relationship with my Savior lately.  It has been about me.  It has been about what I am doing.  Not about what the Lord is teaching me or doing in or around me.  

This morning my mom brought a magazine in my room.  It is the recent issue of self.  I buy women's health, shape, and self to make myself feel athletic.  Being athletic is one of the things I strive to be one day in my life, yet I know I will never achieve.  I buy these magazines because the front cover "motivates" me to look like that - yet it is virtually unattainable.  These models are models because they are genetically born with a perfect metabolism, a great bone structure, and they were found at the perfect time.  Okay - maybe they aren't born perfect and have eating disorders and tons of problems - but looking at them, not only makes me insecure, it makes me wish I was them and become unsatisfied with how God made ME.  

But what is one thing that these magazine have in common.  Here is the breakdown of what is inside of them:

I have been praying about it - but as all immature people say, "It's not going to effect me!  I am a bigger person than this - I am a Christian and I can read and watch and talk like this and not be effected." 

20% Nutrition

5% Recipes

35% Workout Routines/Articles

40% Relationship and Sex Advice.

Now out of those things... I want most of all the Workout Routine portion - but am I getting any of that out of these magazines?  No.  I am getting more information about sex and ungodly relationships than anything!  That is ridiculous!  Why am I filling my mind with things like this when the Bible EXPLICITLY warns me about this:

Mark 7:20-23 says:

²⁰ He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. ²¹ For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder,²² adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. ²³ All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”

What you behold you become.  Your life is like a piece of photographic film.  

The eyes are the window of the soul.  

Things that you see go into your eyes make an impression on your soul.  The things that you focus on long enough you eventually take on the characteristics of what you are looking like.

Check this out:

This is a perfect "secular" example of this idea.  Old married couples look like each other the more they age.  What they focused on for 10-20-50 years are the characteristics they are beginning to embody.  

This is my favorite one! haha

So I pose the question:

Only you can be honest with yourself. Don't wait the 47 days to New Years to make a change.  make a change now.  

The change might be hard.  It might involve changing your friend group, not watching the shows you watch, and it might even involve you meeting new people.  But it also means...

You get more time with you Heavenly Father!  And that is ALWAYS a good thing!

I want to let you know what sparked this blog post.  It was a video that I watched several nights ago of one of my friends Dorothy Shepherd and her wedding that took place a few months ago.  (Click on the picture to watch the video)

It reminded me of the relationship, the man, and the love that I want to share and reciprocate one day.  It is a love that stems from Jesus - a love that can only be found if you seek HIM out and cultivate that relationship day in and day out.