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Video media is VERY subtle. I think God knew that, and David knew that back when he wrote that Psalm. Many commercials and shows play background music. How many times has a song come on, and you can remember EXACTLY where you were and what you were doing, even a certain smell in the room, when you first heard that music?

Print media puts an indelible impression on your mind. How many times have you seen something horrifying, and you just can’t get it out of your mind? It just keeps coming back. I have a TERRIBLE memory of a picture of a brain I saw as a young person. I cannot shake that image in my mind. Whenever I get sick, for some strange reason, that image comes back into my mind.

Romans 12:2 states "And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God". I feel that if I am constantly wanting what I see in front of me, that I am conforming to this world, and that is not pleasing to my God.

Now at this point, many of you are thinking, "Boy, this woman has absolutely NO self-control, what can I learn from a person with such lack of character?". Well, I thought that about myself too, for awhile. 

I guess I can put it to you this way. If someone TOLD me there was a person in the next room with a gun, and that if I went into that room, chances are 50/50 that that person would shoot at me and kill me, would I peek around the corner, just to SEE if there really was a person in there with a gun, to make sure whoever told me this wasn’t lying? Well, perhaps some of you would, but I would venture to guess that MOST of us would NOT enter that room, in fact, most of us would probably not even peek.

I guess that is the way I feel about those silly ads. Now, I use those ads just as an example, because EVERYONE knows what I am talking about, but you could put just about ANYTHING that you have a problem with in it’s place. 

How about when you go on a diet? My husband and I just recently decided to change our eating habits. We are both a little overweight, not getting any younger, and still have a six year old who needs both parents to be healthy for a while longer.

My husband INSISTS there be NO junk food in the house during this time. I, on the other hand, don’t see a problem with keeping the occasional bag of chips on the frig or box of cookies in the pantry, (for the boys, of course). My hubby sees this as direct sabotage to what we are trying to do. I don’t seem to have as much trouble with self-control in THIS area as he does, so a discussion ensued. (Fancy way to say we had words over this) 

HOWEVER, when I look back on other times, and when I am completely honest with myself, as well as my husband, I have to admit there were times when I DID indulge in the "boys" cookies or chips. Would that have happened if they were not there? Probably not. Did I sabotage a "diet" that may have "worked" this time.......YES!!!!!

SO, guess what? The cookies and chips are GONE, and I am sure the "boys" will survive. One of them is old enough to drive himself to the store and get a treat for BOTH of them, and they will probably be healthier for it.

I let you peek into our home life a little to help you understand just how SUBTLY our good intentions can be broken down, and how stubborn we can be about even the littlest of things. My Bible says in I Samuel 15:23b ".....and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry". I have to think, is it worth it to be THAT stubborn, which is as bad as idolatry, over something that as my girlfriend’s mother always said, "A hundred years from now, we’ll know anything about"?

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