We are bombarded daily with ads, billboards, movies and magazines which tell us what we ought to have, who we ought to be and how we ought to look. As you peruse aisles, highways and websites, take notice of the subject. It is all about you. You are constantly informed how worth it you are and how you deserve to be happy. When confronted, you can either buy into what’s being pandered or combat it. Since we are prone to flattery, gratification, self-love, selfishness, “live your best life” sentiments and the like, we ought to equip ourselves to learn how to identify them in order to combat them.
Combatting begins by recognizing truth from falsehood and found by reading the Word of God. While that seems like the typical Sunday school answer, it is paramount for discernment. John 8:31-32 states, “Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly My disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”” The truth found in God’s Word will set you free. It teaches that a gentle and quiet spirit is precious in the sight of God (1 Peter 3:4) vs. loud and obnoxious. We are to be adorned with modest apparel (1 Timothy 2:9), not immodest. Self-controlled vs unruly. Submissive vs. rebellious. Identified by good deeds vs. illicitness. Combatting begins with reading.
Inevitably some will ask, how much? how often? how long? The answer is until Christ returns or calls you home! There is no formula, it is solely a matter of obeying by the reading of Scripture. With that said, I believe the requisite is daily. Just as the body needs daily sustenance, it also needs daily spiritual provision. My conviction means reading my Bible first thing in the morning, before I do anything else. I need God’s laws, warnings and commands as a banner over my mind and heart. It allows me to meditate on it throughout the day – not only because I need assurance and reminders of God’s promises – but because I greatly need His discipline. This is where the first battle comes to a head – getting into a Bible reading routine. I exhort everyone to actually establish a reading routine, not “fit it in when there’s time.”
When we understand correctly where to draw our hope, contentment, beauty, worth, strength and wisdom from, we are not concerned with aligning to worldly values. “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” We will be au courant with the crafty and subtle lies, which no foundation stands solidly upon; no longer susceptible to schemes as we walk through the mall or drive down the interstate. “The wisdom from the world is foolishness” (1 Corinthians 3) and being in God’s Word is the very reason we will be able to recognize falsehood. In Psalm 111:10, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; All those who follow His commandments have a good understanding; His praise endures forever.” In order to grow in wisdom, open your Bible. There is no other authority which truth derives.
When billboards harass, give them no ground to land upon. Don’t desire what the world commends. Find your identity in Christ alone. After all, the chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. So let us glorify God by praising Him. Glorify God by living in obedience to His Word. Glorify God by honoring our parents. Glorify God by looking after widows and orphans. Glorify God by remaining sexually pure. Glorify Him by remembering we’ve been bought with a price. We must give unto God what is belongs to God.
