There’s a push these days for healthy eating.  We have more nutritional information than any previous generation and many of us are conscious of our carbs, sodium, and calorie consumption more than ever before. Countless concerned moms are limiting processed foods and trying to provide fresh, organic foods for their families.

There’s also a push for green home products. More and more we’re hearing about just how many chemicals can be found in everyday cleaning supplies. Scores of conscientious moms are making their own cleaning supplies using natural products like vinegar and baking soda.

After all, we want what’s best for our family and some of us will go the distance to protect them from the dangers of this world. Right?

We’re concerned about what we’re putting in our mouths. We’re concerned about what we’re absorbing through our skin. Why then are we not concerned about what we’re feeding our minds?

What I’m talking about are the droves of women who are grabbing girlfriends and planning to go see the movie  Fifty Shades of Grey this weekend.  I also just learned there will soon be a sequel to the movie “Magic Mike” which also released around the same time the Fifty Shades of Grey book several years ago.

Let me tell you right up front, I haven’t seen the movie “Magic Mike,” nor have I read Fifty Shades of Grey. I won’t be opening my heart up to either one.  Why? Because I firmly believe they are junk food for the mind.

In the same way that potato chips do nothing to nourish my body, movies about male strippers and erotica novels do nothing to nourish my mind.  Not only that, but Fifty Shades of Grey has been determined to be the most sexually explicit movie ever to receive an “R” rating. An “R” rating ensures a wider release than an “NC 17” rating that would have likely limited its release.

There’s a reason God tells us in Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

He clearly wants us to consume only what is good for our mind.

I won’t be reading an erotica novel or seeing a sexually tantalizing movie for these reasons:

  • They can cause me to compare my real life to something that is not real. This can cause me to be dissatisfied with my real life and ultimately become discontent.
  • They can erode my sense of right and wrong.Sex outside of marriage is wrong, no matter how you paint the picture. I don’t need to feed my mind any message that desensitizes me to what is right and what is wrong.
  • They can cause me to think about another man. The Bible calls this lust and God says it’s not healthy for our hearts and minds.

Don’t get me wrong. I like sex. A lot. I wouldn’t have written a book on the subject if I didn’t!

However, I’m intensely aware of how easily the human heart can be led in the wrong direction.  A movie here. A novel there. Before you know it, your heart has been drawn away from the things most important in this world.

For me there’s fifty shades of “no” and there’s no magic in Mike…only Mark.

As this movie releases this weekend, will you join me in fifty shades of “no?” 

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