When you are trying to grow spiritually, it is important to avoid violence.  This includes all acts of violence, but is not limited to that.  You should also avoid violent thoughts as much as possible.  Some of the ways to do this are to avoid watching violent movies and television shows and to not play violent video games.  This is especially true if you are the type of person who tends to really get into a movie or TV show as it were really happening causing you to react emotionally to the things you see on the screen.  Remember that Jesus warned us that to sin in our thoughts was the same as to sin in our deeds.
    The next step is to pay attention to how we think and notice when we have violent thoughts.  It could be something like thinking violent thoughts about someone who cuts you off in traffic, some criminal on the news for committing violent acts against children, or some bigot preaching hatred and intolerance on a street corner.  These thoughts are all understandable, but we still need to learn to control them.  Once we are aware of them, we can simply ask God to help us rid ourselves of such thoughts.
    Why is it important to try to avoid violent thoughts?  There are a number of reasons:

• Violent thoughts often lead to violent actions on our part
• The violent thoughts generate energy that can influence others causing them to be violent
• Many believe, and I agree with them to a large extent, that violent thoughts can affect nature causing storms, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions
• Violent thoughts lower our vibration rate limiting our ability to develop spiritually.