I have a friend who told me this story. When her daughter was a young teenager she wanted to go with her friends to see an “R†rated movie. My friend told her daughter she could not go because “Râ€-rated movies are filled with violence, bad language and explicit sex. The daughter tried to change her mother’s mind by telling her that she knew there would be some of those scenes in the movie, but there would only be a little bit and a little bit couldn’t be so bad. The rest of the movie would be okay and she could just overlook the bad parts.
Later that day, my friend baked some brownies. When her daughter came home from school, she found the brownies and began to eat one. After she had taken a big bite, my friend said, “I need to tell you that I cleaned the parakeet’s cage, and some of the bird droppings accidentally fell into the batter. It’s okay though. It’s just a little bit, and you can overlook it because the rest of the brownie is okay.â€Â Her daughter gagged and spit the brownie out.
Of course, the brownies were fine, but my friend was trying to get her daughter to understand why she was not allowed to attend an “Râ€-rated movie. We need to be as careful about what we put into our minds as we are about what we put into our mouths. What we allow to occupy our minds will eventually make its way into our speech and actions. A little bit of filth can contaminate our whole being.Â
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.â€Â Philippians 4:8