Senses: Sight

I grew up in a Christian household, but it wasn’t until I was a teenager that my personal relationship with Christ began to grow. I can remember the exact turning point in my life, and after that moment, God began to change me.

Change takes time. It is not a one time deal, it’s a constant motion. And it takes choice on our part to make change occur. Can I be honest here for a moment? I hate change! It’s tough. There are learning curves involved, and it’s often uncomfortable. But one thing I’ve learned, I’m always better for it. The more I experience the new change, the more it becomes natural to me and easier to choose. Then an amazing thing happens, the new becomes comfortable and the old is no longer appealing. That’s when I know the change has fully taken affect. It’s become my new habit.

Over the next few weeks I want to talk about some new habits centered on our senses. Today I want to start with sight. What we take in.

What enters our bodies through our eyes is crucial to the well-being of our mind and soul. It can be a stumbling block to us. God cautions us in Mark 9:47, “If your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out. It’s better to enter the Kingdom of God with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell.” Sounds harsh, right? I believe it was because He wanted to catch our attention. Make sure we don’t fool around with this—it’s that important.

Sight plays into all aspects of our lives. What we watch on TV or the movies. What we read in magazines and books. What ads we gaze at—even at the mall. Let’s not even start with what you can find on the internet. Temptation is always there, but we can choose to look elsewhere. If we don’t, it can hurt us.

I know because I played with this fire when I was younger. I was in love with all things horror. My friends and I would have marathon movie sessions. I’d read books that would make your toes curl. I told myself it was because I loved the adrenaline rush and I could handle it. And yet, I couldn’t understand how I, a child of God, struggled with a spirit of fear. All the while, I was feeding it with what my eyes took in.

And it was easy to hide. Things of our sight always our. My books and movies never would have been allowed in my family, but I still accessed them. Now I want to say something here. If you feel the need to hide something, it means you shouldn’t be doing it. Put it away. Run as far from it as you can. Stop it! You’re playing with fire and you will get burned. I know I did.

I struggled for years with that spirit of fear, and my soul is still sensitive to the area. To this day I will not even watch a commercial that deals with fear based subjects, the occult or horror. I will not touch a book with the subject matter. It is a part of my life that I must consistently give over to God and tread very carefully with. If you’ve dealt with an area of something your eyes took in that became a stumbling block, you know exactly what I’m talking about. If you haven’t, don’t start. Keep what your eyes rest on as holy. Everything you see, ask if it glorifies God. Does it edify your spirit and your walk with Him? If the answer is ‘no’, walk away. If the answer is ‘I’m not sure’, walk away. This is not a game you want to play. It will suck you in before you even realize it.

And if you’re currently stumbling with what your eyes take in, give it to God this instant. Cover it in His blood. He can deliver you from it, but you need to choose to take it to His altar and leave it there. It might be a minute to minute issue for you, but He will take it if you are ready to give it to Him. Read Romans 8 and remind yourself when His spirit lives in you, you are no slave to sin.

This week I challenge you to remember—your eyes are controlled by voluntary muscles. They do not stray someplace that you haven’t first directed them. What you're looking at is feeding something in your life. What are your going to feed and what will you starve?