Our minds control everything else about us. Our thoughts influence our feelings. And our feelings impact our actions.

What you think matters, because everything starts in the mind. To be a responsible person, you have to control your thoughts.

But let me relieve you of some false guilt: You’re not responsible for every stray thought that passes through your mind. Stray thoughts enter our minds for a variety of reasons, like conversations you hear by accident, things you see, or stuff the Devil puts in your mind.

You’re responsible for how you deal with those stray thoughts. Martin Luther said it like this: “You can’t keep the birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair.”

God will hold you accountable for what you allow to enter your mind.

I’m amazed by what some people watch—not to mention what they let their children watch. Many followers of Jesus spend their time watching TV shows and listening to podcasts that have absolutely no moral, emotional, or educational value. They pay good money to see deviant behavior as entertainment. People watching such shows have told me, “When I go see those kinds of things, it just doesn’t phase me. It doesn’t bother me. It doesn’t affect me.”

But that’s just not true!

Scientists have done study after study that says you never really forget any scene you see. Even if you don’t consciously recall the scene, that idea will come right back to your mind—in living color—when something else stimulates the thought.

In other words, “Garbage in, garbage out.” What you put into your mind will inevitably bear fruit in your behavior and beliefs. In fact, when cheap entertainment doesn’t bother you anymore, it’s a warning light that you’ve already passed the threshold.

One of Satan’s greatest tricks for attracting you to sinful lifestyles is comedy. That’s why on TV or in movies, deviant behavior often starts in a comedic situation. If Satan can get you laughing at something that is sinful, then you’ve already lost the battle.

Sin isn’t funny. Sin put Jesus on the cross.

Proverbs 15:14 says, “A wise person is hungry for knowledge, while the fool feeds on trash” (NLT).

Are you hungry for more knowledge of God, or are you content to keep a steady diet of entertainment that breaks his heart? You have the power to decide what you feed your mind.