Throw Away the Bad

Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.  (James 1:21 NIV)

Sometimes the difficult job in clearing your conscience is in identifying whether a box (thought) is good or bad.  Cultural norms change, sometimes dramatically within a relatively short period of time.  Something that was "taboo" yesterday may seem perfectly acceptable today (and vice versa).  God's norms, however, have been defined for us for thousands of years now.  We can easily learn to distinguish between whether a "box" is good or bad now.  It takes some time to read and understand His Word, but once we learn it we can hold on to it.  "Will" now knows how to decide.

Often times, however, the problem does not occur in the recognition step.  A thought comes in our mind and we know it's a "bad box."  It brings about anger, fear, lust, envy, greed, or one of the other "bad box" items that we know do not come from God.  The next step, then is easy...or is it.

THROW IT AWAY!!!

I know what you're thinking.  "That's easier said than done."  Actually, God makes is just as easy as it sounds.  With Will free to do whatever he wants to do with any thought (by God's design) and His Spirit right there ready to back you up (and God want's us to through away bad boxes), we have all the power we need to get rid of that junk.  Throw it away.  Get rid of the anger, fear, lust, envy, greed, etc. by getting rid of the though that produces those emotions and desires.

He really ticks me off! BECOMES I wonder why he's acting like that.  I need to pray for him.

I'm scared! BECOMES God, I know you're with me.  I trust you.  Let's get through this.

Would you look at her/his... BECOMES That's my sister/brother in Christ.

Dude, I wish I had one of those. BECOMES That's cool.  I'm glad you're enjoying it!

You don't need to replace the thought with another thought like in the examples above.  You can always just throw away the bad box with a simple "That's not true!"  That will get rid of it, too.

Once you identify a "bad box" coming down the conveyor belt of your mind, you're conscience will only be clear when you throw it away.