A filter separates what you want to discard and what you want to use. Think water and coffee grounds.
- A water filter removes impurities to cleanse water for drinking, irrigation, swimming, bathing, or cooking.
- An oil filter removes contaminants that may affect an engine or machinery.
- A software filter screens incoming data to protect your computer.
You, too, have a filter.
Each day you are bombarded with input from media, opinions, traditions, expectations, and culture, all vying for attention. What you choose to keep depends upon your filter.
Otherwise how would you know what input to use and what input to discard … what actions to take and which ones not to take? Your filter drives your behavior.
What Material Do You Use For Your Filter?
When it comes to filters, one size does not fit all. Manufacturers start with the end in mind; a filter’s materials are chosen in order to achieve specific results. You do not use a car engine oil filter and expect to get the results you need from an air vent filter. A water filter can be made of mesh (to strain sand) or carbon-activated granules (to distill out impurities.) A software filter can be programmed with virus settings (to screen the computer from a harmful program) or browser setting (to prevent a user from seeing certain material.)
When it comes to filtering your behavior, what results do you want? Start with the end in mind.
- A self-centered filter uses your own thoughts and plans to determine what stays in and what is sifted out. This version was adopted by the Hebrew people during the period of the Judges, when each man “did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25, ESV).
- A people-centered filter may appear to be noble at first glance, fixed on meeting others’ needs. But closer examination shows that this filter focuses on others’ approval. When Moses was delayed in delivering God’s law to the people, Aaron gave in to the Israelites’ pressure and together they created the golden calf (Exodus 32).
- A God-centered filter hungers for Christlikeness and the Kingdom of God here and now. This filter is rooted in God’s goodness, His unchanging Word, and the discernment of the Holy Spirit.
Choose Your Filter
God has specific tasks to which He calls you. If you let Him, He can use your experiences, background, circumstances, and prayer life to create your unique filter.
The choice for a God-centered filter must be intentional and ongoing, because your filter screens out what you don’t want to use … and leaves in what you do want to use. Each day, each hour, each minute, more input knocks at your door.
What filter do you put into place? The choice is yours.
