Guarding Our Eyes
Matt. 6: 22-23 – “The lamp of the body is the eye. If your eye is sound, your whole body will be filled with light; but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be in darkness. And if the light in you is darkness, how great will the darkness be.”
The eyes are the lamp unto the soul. We will either bring goodness or sin into our soul based off of what we allow our eyes to gaze upon. We may think that our will is so strong that watching something that is filled with violence, nudity, evil, and darkness won’t affect us, and that we are just being entertained. However, the more we let these images into our heart and soul, the more they wear on our acceptance of sin and the more emotionally numb we become to its effects.
One of the areas that is destroying relationships today is the number of people that allow pornography into their lives and, believe it or not, into their bedrooms. Pornography has no redeeming value and is addictive and highly damaging to relationships and to our own emotional health. The neurochemicals released by the brain, every time pornography is viewed, eventually causes a “rewiring of the brain” that leads to depression and anxiety, as well as addiction and a need for more depraved forms of porn to satisfy the addiction. In many ways, scientists have found that it is more addictive than crack-cocaine.
We have to realize that sin flourishes inside us when we stop fighting back against it. We need to guard our eyes because when you allow images to “be seen” and they are attached with a strong emotion, they ‘burn’ into our memory and stay with us for a long time. So do we want to remember dark and disturbing images long into the future, or the good, the true and the beautiful images that have the potential to strengthen peace, hope, and faith? Guarding our eyes is important for our own well being as well as our view of the world around us and our loved ones nearest us.
ACTION STEP: This week, find more opportunities to guard you eyes from dark and sinful images and take more time to gaze upon the things that are true, good, and beautiful.