"It's Not Affecting Me, So It Doesn't Matter"
"I can listen/watch this, it doesn't really affect me"
How many of you have ever found yourself saying that to yourself as you continued listening to a song or watched a TV show that wasn't "too" terrible, but not necessarily something you should be filling your head with so much?
I have. I find myself saying that to myself a lot. And as much as I would like to say that "it doesn't matter, it doesn't affect me." Things that aren't necessarily "horrible" but not something we should indulge on do affect us.
I was hesitant to write this because I feel kinda like a hypocrite to be saying, "Don't do this" meanwhile I'm still struggling with this but it was something that really just hit me and I've been realizing so I figured I'd share.
This all hit me as I was working on an assignment for one of my classes and one of the questions asked: How do you allow God to shape your thinking so that it reflects His values and priorities?
And then this got me thinking to noticing that when I indulge in certain secular music or TV shows/movies that aren't necessarily "horrible" but don't really have Christlike values (example: Friends, How I Met Your Mother, different Chick Flicks ) it really does affect me.
It's weird to explain but maybe you understand, it's just like your attitude about things gets different and you get really "me" focused because every TV show is so "me" focused. It's always about my date with so and so, how's my job going? how can I get this guy/girl's attention? What can all the characters be doing for me?
I think that without realizing it, when we constantly are watching certain shows or movies, even if we don't think it's affecting us-it really is affecting our hearts. Because by the end of some sitcom or movie, we sit there and compare our lives to these made up character's lives and start to think on what we're missing and what we need-that they have. (even though he/she is a completely fictional character)
When you're too busy trying to figure out what you need-that doesn't really give room to hear God's values and priorities.
I think it can be even worse when it comes to music. Because (and again, I am really guilty of this) we really love to use music to feed into our emotions. I know when I'm feeling lousy instead of thinking, "Oh I'll put on some Elevation Worship or Rend Collective Experiment" I'd rather sit and listen to some Bayside or Brand New and sit and sulk in those lousy feelings because for some reason I convince myself-it'll make me feel better-when actually it just makes me feel worse.
And when I'm giving in to an emotion and letting music increase that emotion, that doesn't really give room for God's values and priorities either.
In Proverbs 4:23 it states, "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it". When I usually heard this verse, I would think in terms of dating. But I think that it can apply to daily life. Even music, TV shows and movies that aren't necessarily "bad" can impact your heart. It might be just a temporary moment that you may be feeling super selfish or so down about your life because you hear a depressing love song-but this got me thinking, "would if I didn't give in to those temporary moments though?" "Would if I came to God when I was feeling lousy or opened my Bible instead of putting in my headphones?" "Would if I eased up on the time I watched certain shows?"
Because even though we don't like to admit it, what we put into our minds, whether we see it or hear it-it does get into our hearts and it can affect how we live and the things we make our priorities. I'm not saying only listen to worship music, avoid TV and movies. I'm saying to be aware of the impact what you watch and listen to does have on you and adjust what you need to in your life if you notice something is affecting you too much.
When it comes to what you should be indulging in the most-I'd say read your Bible daily and memorize different scriptures. I know it's something you hear a lot but reading the Bible really is a super important thing and it affects how we live our lives and what's going on in our minds & hearts.
How many of you have ever found yourself saying that to yourself as you continued listening to a song or watched a TV show that wasn't "too" terrible, but not necessarily something you should be filling your head with so much?
I have. I find myself saying that to myself a lot. And as much as I would like to say that "it doesn't matter, it doesn't affect me." Things that aren't necessarily "horrible" but not something we should indulge on do affect us.
I was hesitant to write this because I feel kinda like a hypocrite to be saying, "Don't do this" meanwhile I'm still struggling with this but it was something that really just hit me and I've been realizing so I figured I'd share.
This all hit me as I was working on an assignment for one of my classes and one of the questions asked: How do you allow God to shape your thinking so that it reflects His values and priorities?
And then this got me thinking to noticing that when I indulge in certain secular music or TV shows/movies that aren't necessarily "horrible" but don't really have Christlike values (example: Friends, How I Met Your Mother, different Chick Flicks ) it really does affect me.
It's weird to explain but maybe you understand, it's just like your attitude about things gets different and you get really "me" focused because every TV show is so "me" focused. It's always about my date with so and so, how's my job going? how can I get this guy/girl's attention? What can all the characters be doing for me?
I think that without realizing it, when we constantly are watching certain shows or movies, even if we don't think it's affecting us-it really is affecting our hearts. Because by the end of some sitcom or movie, we sit there and compare our lives to these made up character's lives and start to think on what we're missing and what we need-that they have. (even though he/she is a completely fictional character)
When you're too busy trying to figure out what you need-that doesn't really give room to hear God's values and priorities.
I think it can be even worse when it comes to music. Because (and again, I am really guilty of this) we really love to use music to feed into our emotions. I know when I'm feeling lousy instead of thinking, "Oh I'll put on some Elevation Worship or Rend Collective Experiment" I'd rather sit and listen to some Bayside or Brand New and sit and sulk in those lousy feelings because for some reason I convince myself-it'll make me feel better-when actually it just makes me feel worse.
And when I'm giving in to an emotion and letting music increase that emotion, that doesn't really give room for God's values and priorities either.
In Proverbs 4:23 it states, "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it". When I usually heard this verse, I would think in terms of dating. But I think that it can apply to daily life. Even music, TV shows and movies that aren't necessarily "bad" can impact your heart. It might be just a temporary moment that you may be feeling super selfish or so down about your life because you hear a depressing love song-but this got me thinking, "would if I didn't give in to those temporary moments though?" "Would if I came to God when I was feeling lousy or opened my Bible instead of putting in my headphones?" "Would if I eased up on the time I watched certain shows?"
Because even though we don't like to admit it, what we put into our minds, whether we see it or hear it-it does get into our hearts and it can affect how we live and the things we make our priorities. I'm not saying only listen to worship music, avoid TV and movies. I'm saying to be aware of the impact what you watch and listen to does have on you and adjust what you need to in your life if you notice something is affecting you too much.
When it comes to what you should be indulging in the most-I'd say read your Bible daily and memorize different scriptures. I know it's something you hear a lot but reading the Bible really is a super important thing and it affects how we live our lives and what's going on in our minds & hearts.
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