Proverbs 4:23 Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

Proverbs 23:26 My son, give me your heart and let your eyes delight in my ways,

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.

There is great power in what we choose to dwell on. Whatever you dwell on, eventually you will act on, and not only that, but those thoughts will come out in the way you speak, in what you do, and eventually will determine the direction of your life. Think about that for a moment; the thoughts you continue to return to and dwell on will determine the direction your life goes in. If you dwell on greed, your life will move in that direction. If you dwell on violence, you will become more violent. If you dwell on lust, your life will move in that direction, and the satisfaction of those intensifying feelings. Men who have been arrested for soliciting a prostitute rarely started with that. It was always an escalation that started from casual pornography to sexual addiction and then satisfying those increasing desires physically, even if it meant doing something illegal. Think about what thoughts you continually return to and dwell on. For many dealing with sexual addiction, that thought is a lustful, sexual fantasy. You return to it over and over and it gives a temporary spike of dopamine or pleasure in your mind. Because of that, this pattern of thinking becomes engrained and intensified in us, because it is something pleasurable or comforting that we return to over and over. Lust becomes an escape from pain, stress, or reality, and this escape becomes more prevalent year after year until it is the thought we almost cannot go an hour without thinking about.

Solomon warns the reader to guard their heart above all else. But it is not simply building up a wall around your heart and not allowing anything in. Solomon gives an alternative; to replace the things of the flesh with the things of the spirit. Our job is not simply to empty our heart and mind of everything, but to replace the lustful thoughts and delights of the flesh with delighting in the ways of God. Paul urges Christ's followers to dwell on things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. How does this happen? It doesn't happen by accident or automatically. It happens by making a conscious and intentional decision to fill up your mind with the things of the Lord every day and replace those evil thoughts. That means we set an alarm on our phones to read God's word, pray, and serve others. We get serious and disciplined about it. We get mad at lust and porn and we see it for what it is. Meanwhile, whenever that lustful thought comes to mind, we take it captive and instead replace it on the spot with something of God. Whenever you think of porn, instead choose prayer. Instead of sex, you will put on music and worship God. Instead of indulging in a sexual fantasy, you will open God's word and read a chapter. When you do this, you'll see how your life will begin to move in a whole new direction.