I appreciated Pastor Brad's updating of the old adage "Garbage in, Garbage out" to "Constant Garbage in, Garbage out" in his message on Sunday.  He rightly pointed out that what impacts our minds and ultimately our hearts isn't often a one-time exposure to  a set of lyrics or other auditory or visual stimulus.  What impacts us is a constant barrage of such exposures.  When he told of his listening and re-listening to the same rap song over and over again until it was literally imprinted in his mind and impacted his beliefs and behavior, I was reminded of Dr. Gary Smalley's book, Change Your Heart, Change Your Life.

Smalley points out that when our hearts are exposed to anything over and over and over again--thousands of times, that "message" gets "written" on our hearts.  We will then live out that message.  In my life the message was ANGER.  Smalley tells us that the only way to rid ourselves of that "garbage" (to use Pastor Brad's image) is to overwrite it with something else.  If we want to change our hearts for the good, then we need to overwrite the harmful message with one from God's word.  You may remember that Pastor Brad told us the way the rap music he listened to constantly came out in his life was in "cussing."  He eventually overcame that bad habit by replacing the message written in his heart and mind with this truth from God's word:  "²⁸ The heart of the godly thinks carefully before speaking;  the mouth of the wicked overflows with evil words.   Proverbs 15:27 NLT   

So is there any "constant garbage" going into your mind and heart?  If so, commit to overwriting it with God's word.  Remember, as you do, you'll have to input the new truth constantly until it replaces the garbage!  God's blessings as you move toward increased faithfulness in Him!

Let's pray:  Heavenly Father, thank You for giving us Your truth to "overwrite" any garbage in our lives right now.  Fill us with Your Holy Spirit that we may be guided to the truth of Your word in areas we need it and then apply it to our lives.  This we pray in Jesus' name.  Amen.