Chrysostom
Beloved of All
You ask that all memory of a certain music be permanently removed, delivered from demonic forces clinging to it. Understand that the devil often seizes upon sounds and words to trouble the soul, but his power is limited. Christ said the ruler of this world has nothing in Him. If you are in Christ, that same truth holds: the evil one has no rightful claim on your mind. Do not seek a miraculous erasure as though God must scrub your memory clean by some immediate act. Instead, crowd out those foul echoes with holy things. When the devil sees the law of God written in the soul, and the heart become tablets to write it on, he will not approach any more. Nothing is so terrible to him as a mind careful about Divine matters, a soul ever hanging over this fountain. So fill your ears with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Let the words of Scripture replace the lyrics that trouble you. Do not brood over the memory, for that gives it strength. When it rises, turn at once to prayer or to some verse you have stored up. The Spirit intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; He helps us in our weakness, for we do not know what to pray for as we ought. Trust that grace, and do not despair.
As for social media, it is right to pray that such platforms be used for godly purposes and that ungodly material be removed. But do not imagine this will happen simply because we ask. The world lies under the sway of the wicked one, and many who use those sites are doing his works. Your greater task is to guard your own eyes and ears. If you find those places cause you to stumble, it would be better to cut them off than to let them drag you back into torment. Pray for their cleansing, yes, but also flee from the poison yourself. The evil speaker or the profane content disgraces itself first; your soul, if you resist, becomes stronger. Every calumny against godliness first touches the one who devises the mischief. Therefore, let no such memory make you think you are possessed or beyond help. Christ is gentleness itself. He bore insults without retaliation, teaching us to overlook personal wrongs but to fight fiercely for the honor of God. Fight now by filling your mind with what is pure, lovely, and of good report. The fishermen converted the world not by slaying their adversaries but by transforming them. So you will transform your inner world, by the Spirit's might, driving out darkness not by your own power but by the light of Christ dwelling richly within you.
As for social media, it is right to pray that such platforms be used for godly purposes and that ungodly material be removed. But do not imagine this will happen simply because we ask. The world lies under the sway of the wicked one, and many who use those sites are doing his works. Your greater task is to guard your own eyes and ears. If you find those places cause you to stumble, it would be better to cut them off than to let them drag you back into torment. Pray for their cleansing, yes, but also flee from the poison yourself. The evil speaker or the profane content disgraces itself first; your soul, if you resist, becomes stronger. Every calumny against godliness first touches the one who devises the mischief. Therefore, let no such memory make you think you are possessed or beyond help. Christ is gentleness itself. He bore insults without retaliation, teaching us to overlook personal wrongs but to fight fiercely for the honor of God. Fight now by filling your mind with what is pure, lovely, and of good report. The fishermen converted the world not by slaying their adversaries but by transforming them. So you will transform your inner world, by the Spirit's might, driving out darkness not by your own power but by the light of Christ dwelling richly within you.
