When I was a kid growing up, on any given Friday night, one of
my favorite places to be was at home curled up on the couch with my family
watching the TGIF line up! Thank God It’s
Friday! I can remember the laughs we
shared together as a family as we watched all of our favorite sitcom shows! Those were the days! It saddens me when I turn on the television now
to any major network station. The filth
that permeates our homes today grieves me.
What has happened to clean family entertainment? Nowadays, if I turn the television to any major
network on any given evening, most if not all shows are filled with sex, violence,
provocative clothing, and cursing. Most
sitcoms normalize affairs, broken homes, homosexual relationships, disrespecting
parents, and living together before marriage.
That’s just on television! Don’t
even get me started on movies and the internet!
I often ask myself how in the world did we get here?
We live in a transient world and things are constantly
changing in the entertainment and fashion industries. I get that.
What shocks me is the moral shift and change that has occurred in my
lifetime. Could you imagine how our
parents and grandparents would have been outraged 20, 30, or 40 years ago to
turn on their television and see two half-dressed adults gyrating on the
television screen during primetime hours?
Oh, and the commercials today…could you even imagine their
disbelief?! Their heads would have been
spinning! So how exactly did we get
here? If our grandparents and parents
wouldn’t have allowed it then, how did we become a generation that doesn’t see
any harm in it…after all, it’s just mindless entertainment, right? Well, after an incident this last week with
my own daughter, my eyes were opened to how this change has slowly crept in. Let me share.
Every week, we look forward to visiting our local library
and the kids check out new books and I let each of them choose a movie to watch
that week. Our library has a huge selection
of kid and family friendly movies so they look forward to finding a new movie
every week! We have a DVD player in the
car so most of the movies are viewed while driving around town. Well, this past week, the kids were all
engaged in a suspenseful movie that we hadn’t ever seen before. You could just hear the sound of them
breathing, that’s how quiet they were. I
was deep in thought when my oldest spoke up just as adamant as could be and she
said, “Mom, you need to turn this movie off right now. Hurry Mom, turn it off. This isn’t a good movie. We shouldn’t be watching this one.” My initial response was to question her and ask
why. I am always very careful to check
the ratings and I always get G-rated or PG-rated movies. Although in the past, I have had to turn some
PG movies off due to curse words, I didn’t catch anything as it was playing
this time, so I was surprised to hear her say it was bad. She explained to me that the little boy in
the movie was naked and his privates were showing. I was shocked and asked more questions which
lead me to finding out that the little boy was wearing a shirt but no
underpants and when he bent over to pick up something off of the floor, it showed
his bottom. After finding out that this
boy was only a toddler boy and it didn’t really show much other than his crack,
I found myself about to tell my daughter that is wasn’t a big deal, but if it
showed anything else to let me know and then I would turn it off. But just as quickly as that thought and response came to me, the
Holy Spirit stopped me mid thought and I felt Him tell me so clearly as if correcting me to stop asking question and just shut the movie off. So I did.
My response was almost immediate but in those few seconds after
my daughter told me to turn it off and why, I found myself trying to determine whether
or not this movie was in deed inappropriate or if she was just overreacting. I am still mad at myself for even considering
the latter!
That day, the Lord used my daughter to teach me a really good
lesson! The Lord showed me that as her
mom, I have tried to do my very best to teach her right from wrong since the
moment she was born. I have taught her
that some words are not okay to say. I
have taught her that we don’t show our private parts to others, nor do we look
at other people’s privates. I have
taught her that certain behaviors and actions are wrong. This is a huge part of parenting, but
ultimately, it’s what my children do with that knowledge that will determine whether
or not they stay on the right path. In that
moment, the Lord showed me that my daughter’s little mind processed what she was
seeing in that PG-rated movie and then she tested that information to what her
parents have taught her and that’s how she came to the realization that this
went against everything she has learned was right and she didn’t want to
continue watching it. Period…end of
story. Honestly, knowing my daughter so
well, why would she? She desires to
please us as her parents and she knows that everything we teach her and the
boundaries we put into place are because we love her and because we want to
protect her. Think about that for a
minute! That’s what our Heavenly Father
has done for us and because we love him so much and desire to please Him, we
should do the very exact thing! Why
would we ever consider doing differently!?
When the Holy Spirit opened my eyes to that realization, I repented
because I almost conditioned my daughter’s sweet and innocent heart to be okay
with something that was in deed inappropriate.
In one moment, I almost unknowingly taught her and her siblings that there
is actually a margin of error for those rules and boundaries that I have so
diligently taught them over all these years!
In one moment, I almost hushed
the voice of the Holy Spirit and told them that it wasn’t all that bad since it
was just a little boy…just a quick shot of a bottom…just once. That’s when The Lord reminded me of the verse
in 1 Peter 5:8.
1 Peter 5:8 says, “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a
roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
Wow! Thank you, Lord
for reminding me that this is a spiritual battle. Friends, Satan is smart, strategic, and ever
so patient. He knew 30 years ago that
the church would riot if he made his way into the entertainment industry
overnight. So, he went on the prowl…carefully
and precisely seeking out those who were willing to have their hearts slowly conditioned
to wickedness…one curse word, one image, and one sinful scene at a time. And over those next 30 years, look where that
has lead us. First we overlooked a curse
word on primetime television, then a few years later we found ourselves
overlooking a short sex scene on our favorite show. Then, a few years later we found ourselves overlooking more and more curse words and sinful ways because we have conditioned
our hearts to think it’s okay as long as…honestly, I’m not sure where our
boundaries lie now. I found the Holy
Spirit telling me in those moments after my daughter’s comment that God has
taught us through His Word what is right and what is wrong. He has placed clear boundaries for us as
believers because He loves us and He wants to protect us. He desires me and you to respond the way my daughter
did when we encounter anything that goes against what He
has taught us…be quick to turn it off and have nothing to do with it! It is time for us to stop conditioning our
hearts and the hearts of our children!
Stop telling yourself it’s okay as long as…fill in the blank! If we continue on this path, can you even
imagine what our children and grandchildren will be inundated with 30 years
down the road? My great-grandmother
would roll over in her grave if she knew the kind of stuff that was permeating
the homes of believers today! I’m sure back
then, much of what we see on TV today would have been considered hard-core
pornography! It grieves me to think that
what we see now as adult content will soon look like an innocent children’s
movie in another 40 years from now! How
have we turned a deaf ear and blind eye for so long? Lord, forgive us.
Believers, it’s time we wake up and look around! The enemy is laughing at us! Because of our lack of obedience to what we
have been taught, he has slowly crept into our homes, into our computers, into
our phones, into our cars, and into our hearts.
He has successfully normalized sin.
He has deceived our children into thinking that sin is okay so long as it’s not
blatant or in excess. Our boundaries
have expanded and the enemy’s territory to prowl has grown. He will devour you and your children when you
least expect it and the church has no one to blame but ourselves. We were the ones who willingly opened the gates and
expanded his territories. We were the
ones that conditioned our hearts to say one drink is okay, one bad scene is
okay, if it’s funny it must be okay, if it has a good beat it makes the song
okay to listen and sing along to, I’m an adult so it’s okay, etc. Oh, how that must grieve our Heavenly
Father. It would grieve me to no ends to
see my children turn a blind eye and deaf ear to the things my husband and I
have taught them and trained them to do, yet I’m guilty of doing that with The
Lord. I know what is right and wrong,
yet I find myself saying it’s okay as long as…
I’m taking back the enemy’s territory today. He no longer can have an entrance into my
home and into the hearts of my family. Lord,
forgive me if I have been guilty of conditioning my children’s hearts to open
the door to sin and inappropriate actions.
Help me be quick to trust your teachings and turn away from all
wrongdoing. Help me to instill those
same teachings into the hearts of my children so that they will be quick to
turn from it too, even though their friends may be conditioned to think it’s
okay. Help us be alert and open our eyes
to the schemes of the enemy. Do not let
us be deceived, but rather help me to live out Ephesians 5:11.
“Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose
them.” Ephesians 5:11
We are in a spiritual battle and the enemy is looking for
someone to devour. Don’t let it be you. Don’t let it be your kids. We live in a world of darkness and we will
encounter things that go against our Father’s teachings. It will happen, but be quick to turn from it
and have nothing to do with it.
Nothing. Don’t allow your heart
to be conditioned to thinking it’s okay as long as…it’s never okay and it most
certainly grieves The Lord.
