When I was in school doing computer programming many, many, many years ago (Fortran was still a viable language) the term GIGO was a common term, especially with the programs I was working on. Garbage In Garbage Out. If the program isn’t written correctly, you are not going to get the results you want. That is a simple concept that seems to escape us as we go about our everyday life.
I recently had the opportunity to spend the day at one of our fabulous local emergency rooms. Since I was not the patient and things were moving along slowly, I spent much of the day watching television, something I rarely do. After spending several hours watching the news and morning talk shows, I honestly felt like I had lost a couple days of my life. I was thinking about all the people that get up every morning and turn on the news and begin their day with that input. The hours of television programming that we allow into our lives every week. I look at that and look around and it became obvious to me why our nation is moving farther away from the Biblical truths that we once held as a cornerstone of our nation. GIGO.
As I sat down at my computer to write this, I looked through my e-mail, social media, and various other sources of information that I am inundated with every day and that term went through my mind again. GIGO. I began to take a closer look at all the input that I get every day. Everything from social media, television, movies, music, billboards, magazines, games, and even the input I get from the people around me. I realized that most of the input that I get every day is negative and does not hold to the Biblical standards that I should be living by. It becomes painfully obvious why I struggle with some of the things I do and why Biblical values are becoming a rarity. GIGO.
So what does that mean for me? I can’t isolate myself from the world I live in. The billboards are there. I can’t do anything about that. My coworkers are there. I can’t do anything about that. So what do I do? I start with the things I can do something about. Change your input. Re-write the program.
But it is more than just stopping the bad input. Writing a computer program with bad code will generate garbage out. If I simply stop writing code to cut off the bad input, it doesn’t change anything. I still get the garbage out. I have to re-write the code with proper input to get the results I want. Cutting off the input is not enough. That just leaves an empty space that needs to be filled. If it isn’t filled, we will begin to allow the bad input back in. Seek out relationships with people that will support you and provide good input. Spend time reading the Bible and praying. I know people who spend hours every day on social media and tell me they can’t find 10 minutes a day to read the Bible. Change your input.
One of my mentors told me once that he can tell where a person is going to be in five years by the books they read and the people they associate with… their input. He also said to me “don’t take financial advice from broke people and don’t take marriage advice from divorced people.” His point is to be careful about what input you allow into your life. Your input programs your thought process and can change who you are.
Think about your input. What are you allowing into your mind and into your heart?
Above all else, guard your heart,
for everything you do flows from it.
Proverbs 4:23
I am reminded of Luke 11:24-26. It’s not enough to just eliminate the evil/negative input and clean up ‘the house’ of the mind. It needs to be filled with good/positive influences (scripture is a good idea here.). 🙂
Nothing comes out of an ‘empty’ house. It’s EMPTY. So the only thing that CAN come out, is what you put in.
GIGO
Right on point. As usual.
This is a fantastic article. I am going to make sure my kids read this. Thank you! Wanda
Not that I didn’t need this advice, myself! 🙂