Have you ever heard the phrase gateway drugs? Gateway drugs are substances that can lead to experimenting with more dangerous or illicit drugs. Many would wrongly consider these gateway drugs harmless. Not only are these gateway drugs harmful, but as previously stated they can lead one down a path to harmful addictions. Gateway substances can alter brain function. Not only this as the body builds a tolerance to one substance, a user might seek stronger effects through higher doses or more potent drugs to achieve the same desired feeling.
I want to draw a parallel to this in the spiritual. If we begin to indulge in worldly behaviors we are creating gateways to more and more sinful behaviors. It can start in what some may call harmless conversation. A bad word here, a dirty joke there. Do not be fooled, these are not harmless. The Word says in 2 Timothy 2:16 (NIV) Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. Notice it says more ungodly, which means the first is ungodly and leads further down this path. The more you indulge in this behavior the less it affects you. This causes your senses to become dull to the sin that you will go deeper into. It rewires your brain to think differently about sin, often defending it and your choices.
We should always be attentive to what we say, watch, listen to, where we go, who we hang around. We have to pay attention to our environment and stay in prayer asking God to always guide us and let us know if something is wrong for us to do. Above everything else guard your heart (Proverbs 4:23 ISV) and abstain from all appearance of evil (1 Thessalonians 5:22 KJV).
Psalm 141:3-4 ISV 3 LORD, set a guard over my mouth; keep watch over the door to my lips. 4 Don’t let my heart turn toward evil or involve itself in wicked activities with men who practice iniquity. Let me not feast on their delicacies.