Off the Air

"Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable - if there is any moral excellence and if there is any praise - dwell on these things. Do what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you." Phillipians 4:8-9 (HCSB)

These words penned by Paul were what came to mind earlier this week after I wasted part of an afternoon and evening watching TV. Let me just stop right here and say that I have nothing against watching TV, nor do I think all shows are bad, I just have a few opinions and concerns that have been weighing rather heavily on me for a few days. So, here I go . . .

TV is one of my weaknesses and I have to admit that I go through phases of spending unreasonable amounts of time with a remote in my hand. Usually these phases happen when a new season of Dancing With the Stars or Biggest Loser begins, much to the chagrin of my husband. He's not a fan of reality TV shows. I, on the other hand, find myself quite fascinated by them.

So, the other day I turned on the TV and just began channel surfing to see what was on. I came across a show that I had started watching a couple of years ago but had stopped watching because I didn't agree with the direction that the show was going and the way they handled some morality issues. Anyway, back to this week. I saw that the show was on and thought I would watch for just a few minutes and see if I had missed anything. It didn't take long for me to get sucked in. I got even more excited when I realized it was a marathon and there were going to be like 4 more episodes in a row. Well, I sat there and watched every last one of those episodes even though I had the same thoughts about it that I had when I had watched the show previously. I had quite the internal battle going on in my head as I sat there and soaked up that garbage.

That evening as I got into bed I could only think of the verses from Philippians and how my TV watching venture for the day went against pretty much everything on Paul's list. True? Honorable? Just? Pure? Lovely? Commendable? Moral excellence and praise? I think not!

Needless to say, I felt quite convicted that I need to get a handle on my TV habits. It's amazing how easy it is to justify what I'm watching and to convince myself that it isn't having a negative impact on my thinking. However, I know that is just a lie because I have had times when I've been without TV and know how my thoughts and attitudes are different. In fact, when we moved recently we didn't hook the TV up for a month. It was truly a breath of fresh air!

So now I face the challenge of trying to resist the temptation to watch some of the not-so-wholesome shows that have been a part of my TV-watching repertoire. I know it won't be easy, but I'm certain that I can make a change.

I want to explain something. This post is not meant to condemn anyone for their choice of entertainment. This is an issue that has been a weakness for me and I just felt led to share it honestly with you. I do feel that there is an abundance of immorality and filth on TV and that we each need to exercise caution and self-control when choosing what we watch, but please don't take my words as criticism or condemnation.

I am going to end this post the same way it began and I pray that we will all heed Paul's advice.

"Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious, - the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies." Philippians 4:8-9 (The Message)