"Media is not the devil, but they are good friends!" That quote sums up how I feel about all the different types of electronic media in use today (yes even computers, and I do realize the irony). I am speaking from a vast field of experience, I have spend countless hours in front of a screen and I know first hand how it effects the life of all who are addicted to it. Yes, I said addicted. If you spend any considerable amount of time on a computer, watching tv, chained to a gaming system, or any other form of media and think that it is not an addiction then I have a challenge for you. If you think you are not addicted then here is what I challenge you to do, totally abstain from all media for at least two weeks and see if you can make it, give it up completely and don't even touch it. I'll wait............................................................. couldn't do it could you? Had to see your show, or beat the next level, or whatever, am I right? Then that, my friend is an addiction and that is exactly what we are all doing to ourselves without even realizing it. That is what I was doing to myself and my family and without God's help I would have never been able to quit. I spent many wasted years in front of a screen "being entertained" and worst of all I let my children do the same. But thank the Lord that my household has been changed over the last year, we no longer own a tv, a gaming system, or even dvds (except a few home movies packed away in storage) and the improvement is unbelievable! If you are a parent reading this blog, please please please listen to what I am about to say.
Media deprives your children of their childhood. I have personally witnessed a major change in my children's attitude, demeanor, health, character, and spiritual life since we have went "media free". They have been so much more active now that I am always amazed at how much they can fit into a day! They have taken an interest in things I never thought they would have cared about, like playing music. My boys are becoming really good piano players. And the funny thing is, we have had a piano in our house since before they were born and they never touched it, now they argue over whose turn it is to play it. My children are advancing in every other category as well, they are getting better grades in school, which is no surprise since they read books for leisure now. They are more social and their interactions with each other and other children has improved dramatically, now they actually talk through their problems rather than fight through them. Their health has greatly improved, as well as my own. Before we went media free, in the rare occasion that we did go outside to toss a football around, we were all exhausted after 5 minutes and had to come right back in and sit down for hours to recover. Now they can run outside non-stop for hours and I also am progressing in weight loss, just a little more slowly than them :) A very noticeable improvement in their character has taken place since we went media free. They are more caring, honest, hard-working, kind, patient, individuals than they ever were before. But the greatest improvement of all is that their spiritual life has changed completely, as well as my own. We now spend time in prayer and have a time of daily Bible reading and quoting, they are memorizing whole chapters of the Bible! Our time of daily devotions has given me an opportunity to connect with my children on a spiritual level and has allowed me to instruct them in the ways of the Lord just like the Bible tells me to do in Proverbs 22:6 "Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it." These things that I have listed are just some of the many, many changes that my family has went through over the last year or so. As a matter of fact, I am so media free that it has taken me weeks to write this blog because I spend very little time indoors on the computer. So I do not have the actual time to tell you of all the small miracles that we have experienced but, I encourage every to take inventory of your own lives today and see where they are headed. Are you part of a media-bound family that is devoting your life to something that has a such a negative impact and no eternal value? If so, then there is only one thing that you can do to improve you life in all the amazing ways I listed above, and that is to pray. I strongly urge you to pray right now for God to help with this life-wasting addiction, because that is the only way to ever get out. We can not do it on our own, but God is merciful and compassionate and He will help us if we only ask, I know because He did just that for me. Just remember what the apostle Paul said in Philippians 4:13 " I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Nothing is too hard for God!
