The Filter

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My son is quite patient by nature, but I was watching as his frustration quickly mounted. There is nothing as maddening for a 12-year-old boy as a lawnmower that keeps stalling out when you are trying to get through another round of lawn chores. My husband had been trying to get the mower fixed, but the local handyman never seemed to be home. However, as David struggled with his job, a kind neighbor came over and started to check out the equipment. He quickly told us that our problem was a dirty filter and he easily remedied the issue.

Filters are meant to keep certain things out. Their purpose is to keep things clean and in good working order. We all use filters in our daily lives. Not just in things like refrigerators, cars and vacuum cleaners, but also in things like our hearts, minds and emotions. From the time we are children, we start to install filters into our perceptions and interpretations to protect ourselves from things that seem harmful. Sometimes these are good filters. For example, the Bible tells us in Proverbs 4:23 to “Keep your heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” In other words, God is telling us we should install filters around our heart because garbage in will contaminate the quality of our existence. However, sometimes filters get dirty or wrongly installed and we tend to keep sputtering out and we don’t understand why. We don’t notice that we have installed thick filters of self-protection, defensiveness, mistrust, neediness, anger, boastfulness and a myriad other things in the hope of keeping hurtful things out. What we fail to realize is that what these filters are really doing is blocking out the good and necessary and instead of protecting our lives, they are choking us to death. Before you give up on that project, idea or relationship… check the filter!