I will set before my eyes no vile thing.
The deeds of faithless men I hate; they will not cling to me.
Psalm 101:3
For a believer there can be no compromise with the world. There can be no compromise between the purity of God’s holiness and the impurity of the world. It is not a matter of meeting half way – giving a little on our standard of righteousness but not going into the worst type of evil – it is not that, for any association with what is clearly “vile” will corrupt purity, which is by definition pure.
One of Satan’s best deceptions is to lead us to only “look” at something we know is wrong, or to just have a “taste,” but as soon as we look then we want to touch, as soon as we touch then we want to possess, as soon as we taste we want to drink, and before long we are caught in a sin with no clear escape. We also discover that the thing we wanted to possess has actually possessed us, as Christ said, “Whoever sins is the slave to sin” (John 8:34).
The standard of what we should avoid is whether it is “vile” or not – meaning whether it is a corruption of what is good. That which the Spirit convicts us of as being wrong is the thing we should avoid, no matter how many other people we know get involved in such a thing. It is wrong for us if we think it is wrong because this is what it means to violate our conscience, to go against our heart and conscience. Paul wrote, “Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves” (Romans 14:22). We are not the standard of right and wrong, and neither is our conscience. Only God can be the true standard of holiness and righteousness. But we must decide on the basis of what information we possess, as the Word of God and the Spirit of God guide us.
We can choose, however, to fill our minds with the right things, the good things of God. Evil does corrupt purity but light also dispels the darkness. Take the light of God’s word into your heart and let it do its miraculous work there. As He shines His truth in our innermost person we find the enslaving grip of sin will begin to lose its control over us. The mind set on the Spirit is life and peace.
Prayer:
Lord, let us set the right information before our eyes, the truth of Your word. Grant us direction and enlightenment in our deepest heart, so that we can know the hope we have in You. Amen.