Who is the teacher?
Do you have a TV in every room? Is there more than one TV on at a time? Do you not even see your kids because they are in their room with a TV? Who does the most teaching in your house: TV, God’s Word, you?
I am not going to go in to a long conversation about this one. We know the consequence if we spend too much time watching TV, on the computer, or playing video games. We know if we have chosen to spend more time on one of these then having conversations with our family.
I am not going to discuss what TV shows are okay to watch and which ones we should not. We know what is influencing us and what is filling the minds of our family.
I am going to say this:
"Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. " Colossians 3:1-3
"Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance." 1 Peter 1:13-14
"Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads." Deuteronomy 11:18
"Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' "Matthew 22:37
This is very simple. If we let our minds be flooded with the world, we are going to act like the world. We cannot act surprised that our teen is sexually active if they are watching it on TV all the time. We cannot be surprised that we are not content with our marriage because we want the relationship we see on TV.
Also, if we choose not to participate in the world by watching TV, but do not fill our minds with things of God, our influence is still wrong. You are not teaching yourself or your child completely if you just control what they watch. Even if you are very strict and don't even let your teenager watch PG-13. It is not enough to stop the bad influence; you have to choose to influence them because if you don’t, someone else will.
We ourselves are being influenced nonstop by the world thanks to technology. Our children and grandchildren will be influenced even more. We have only one choice and again; it is not an option.
We must choose to "set on our minds on things above."
We must choose to "prepare our minds for action."
We must choose to "fix these words of God on our minds."
We must choose to "love the Lord with all our mind."
We cannot hide from the world. We are very dependent on technology and will rely on it more and more. We can choose what we fill our minds with and what we fill it with first and the most. You have a choice for yourself and for your family. I beg of you to choose to set your mind on Christ not the world.
Homework
1. Choose to memorize scripture as a family (Matthew 22:37 is a great start)
2. Choose to talk to your children the minute they are in the car
3. Choose to have a sit down family dinner or dessert to talk with no TV
4. Choose worship music over TV in the morning before school
5. Choose to read the Bible together
6. Choose to be your own teacher and your child's
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