As followers of Christ, we spend our lives pursuing obedience to His commands (John 14:15). Our love for Him compels us to live lives of obedience not because we must, but because it is the deep desire of our hearts. It’s easy to focus on the things you are doing do but ignore the things receiving your approval. We avoid the obvious sins but fail to recognize that approving of the sinful behavior of others is just as much a sin as if we were committing those acts ourselves (Romans 1:32).
We are not to have any association with the darkness in our world (Ephesians 5:11; 2 Corinthians 6:14-17). It’s not enough to be separate in our behavior but also in our associations and to be mindful of that which receives our support and blessing.
You give your approval not just by supporting certain people or activities, but also by how you spend your time and money. We spend time on things we enjoy and that brings us some measure of pleasure or satisfaction. But do those things bring glory and honor to God (1 Corinthians 10:31)? Do they build our holiness or tear it down?
Entertainment saturates our culture and pours in through screens of all shapes and sizes. There was a time when there was a single screen in an entire house through which the world could penetrate our lives. Now there is a screen of some sort in almost every room, in our cars, and even in our pockets. The evil one is stacking the battle against us in every way.
The devil invades every second of our day with his schemes and lies (1 Peter 5:8). When you listen to a song or watch a movie full of immorality, deceit, cursing, and violence, you are giving your approval to such things. You are approving of the industry creating the garbage, and you are giving those things tacit approval to enter your mind. You will become what you think about (Proverbs 23:7; Romans 12:2; Colossians 3:2). No one can rise above that universal truth.
Of course it’s not just movies. Television, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and countless other platforms permeate our lives and grab our attention. It used to be as easy as cutting the cable, but now the darkness travels wirelessly into every corner of our lives. All of it is begging for your approval, and too often we let it all into our minds with little thought or resistance.
We can fret and fidget about the state of our national borders, but when was the last time you set a strong guard on the border of your mind? Nothing should cross that doesn’t pass the test of being true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, moral, or worthy of God’s praise (Philippians 4:8). What we let in is what we approve of.
When we refuse to stand against what God says is sin, we are declaring our approval of that sin (Isaiah 5:20; Ephesians 5:6-7). We are all guilty of giving our approval to that which God abhors (Psalm 97:10; Proverbs 8:13; Romans 12:9). Let’s stop being lazy about what we allow to cross the borders of our minds and stop giving in to what the culture says is acceptable. Guard your mind and live without compromise (2 Corinthians 10:3-5; 1 Peter 1:13-16). In this way, we show our love for Jesus (John 14:23; 1 John 2:15-17).