What You Consume Determines What You Think About

There are so many options for entertainment these days. Social media, music, movies, books. But not all of these choices can be edifying.

We live in a world where there is no public standard for what is morally acceptable. In the eighteenth century social morals were based on the Bible, even if you didn’t believe in it. It provided an upright way of living and helped define right and wrong.

In today’s day and age, we don’t have that. Many people do what they believe is right in their own eyes, creating their own moral standards.

This means that anybody who creates something is basing it off of their moral values. This means that what we consume for entertainment, most of the time, will be based on someone else’s values and beliefs.

This can create a dangerous trap. If you are not on your guard, what you are consuming can seep into your mind and affect you. Even when you aren’t consciously thinking about it, it will stay in the back of your mind, weaving itself into your thoughts and beliefs.

Senior year of high school I got very caught up in watching a specific movie franchise. My younger sister and I were obsessed with this franchise and watched their movies together almost every night before bed. This went on for months. Over the course of time I became desensitized to violence, torture scenes, and sexual references. I would sit there and watch, believing that these movies were edifying and helping me become a better person. I told myself that these movies were teaching me about courage, teamwork, and sacrifice. I believed these movies were making me a better person.

But my mom thought otherwise. After seeing a trailer for a new movie from the franchise, my mom confronted me. She didn’t like what she saw in the trailer, and when she realized it was what we were watching, she became concerned. She confronted me about it and said she wanted my sister and I to take a break and find better things to watch.

When I asked why, she explained about the trailer and stated that both my sister and I had become depressed over the course of the few months we had been watching these movies. I hadn’t thought it had been affecting me, but it had. I didn’t really believe her, but I listened to her anyway. We stopped watching the movies.  Stopped consuming the violence, torture scenes, and sexual references.  Instead we searched for better movies to watch.  I became less depressed and somewhat happier.

Then, fast forward about five months and my sister and I decided to go back to the franchise but watch some of their less depressing movies. As we’re watching them I began to feel convicted and disgusted. Sure, I still liked the storyline and would still consider the movie to be a good movie. But all the little things that I had blown off before now bothered me. All the sexual references, the self-pity, the lack of moral values. I went to bed that first night after watching it again and as I tried to fall asleep, I could tell it was already affecting me. 

My mood was more unstable, my thoughts kept drifting places they shouldn’t go, and I was more prone to anxiety and fear. I thought maybe I was imagining it, and over the next couple nights we finished the movie and watched a different one from the same franchise.

The entire time I kept asking myself, “Is this edifying?” 

There was a time I would have said yes, but now I wasn’t so sure.

The more I thought about how the movie was affecting me, the more confused I became.

I wanted to like the movie franchise again. 

I wanted it to be good. 

But I couldn’t ignore how it was affecting my feelings and thoughts. I couldn’t ignore how unsettled I would feel after watching it. And the more I studied the movie and the effect it was having on me, the more confused I was on how none of it bothered me the first time.

But I wasn’t on my guard the first time around. This time I was. I didn’t want to go back to a state of depression, and I truly wanted what I was watching to be edifying. And sure, there were edifying pieces, but as a whole it wasn’t helpful. It wasn’t building me up to become a better person.

 In today’s day and age I feel like Christians have become increasingly lax in their standards for entertainment. 

Phillipians 4:8 says, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” 

If what you are watching, reading, or listening to doesn’t fit that category, then you shouldn’t be consuming it.

Also remember, that just because another Christian watches something you deem impure or derogatory, doesn’t mean they are sinning. We are all different people, and God is a very personal God. What leads you into sin may not lead someone else into sin. 

So be on your guard. The Bible says the devil is prowling around like a lion, searching to destroy. He is constantly waiting for you, trying to bait you into sin. So keep a lookout for things that may lead you astray. Watch out for snares and traps in what you watch, read, and listen to. 

If you start to notice feelings of anger, sadness, or nervousness that appear out of nowhere, check what you are consuming. If a friend or family member notices a negative shift in your mood, analyze what you are taking in.

Be sure to do this on a regular basis, for what might not affect you one season in life may affect you in the next.

The world around us will always affect who we are. We need to be careful and be sure that the parts of the world we are exposing ourselves to over and over are beneficial to our emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual health.