Wednesday, July 9, 2014

TV is Bad for My Brain...Or is it?

I love my Netflix account.

There are no commercials, I can pick what I want to watch, when I want to watch it, and I have control over what the children are watching. Want to watch the entire series of 30 Rock? Yes, please. Done and done. Does my husband want to watch The West Wing...again? Why, yes he does. Netflix also allows me to watch things I normally wouldn't, like 19 Kids and Counting. A show about the Duggar family who have19 children.

Wow.
God bless 'em. I admire their steadfastness to the Lord. I admire that they manage a family that large with no debt. I admire that the children (all of them) seem to genuinely respect their parents. This is where TV is bad for me.

I have four kids. ONLY four kids. Where Michelle Duggar can manage her whole brood AND homeschool without raising her voice, I yell. Her kids help each other, and help around the house, mine complain and the baby bites when he doesn't get his way. She was honorary duck master at some fancy hotel, I'm...well, my ducks aren't in a row.

This is why TV is bad for my brain. It brings to life all of my fears of failing as a parent. All of these other parents are not only doing a fabulous job, but they're making money at it by having a hit television show.

These ducks are so not in a row
On second thought, it's not TV that's bad for me, it's crippling insecurity. Insecurity that I'm screwing up this parenting gig, or insecurity that I'm not enough for other people. Or insecurity that I'm way too much for other people. What's bad for me is the need to compare all I do (or don't do) with everyone else, and THEN base my worth on what (I perceive) they think about me. It's a very lonely place to reside.

1 Corinthians 10:31 tells me that whatever I do I need to do it for the glory of God. It mentions NOTHING about doing things so that others will praise me, or so that I can feel better about myself. Everything, not some things, not just the "holy" things - everything- should be done for the glory of the Lord.

Paul goes on to rub salt in my wounds by asking in Galatians 1:10, "Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings or of God?" How do YOU answer that question? I know how I'd answer it and it's sobering. The verse goes on to say, "Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ."

Ouch...

I can't serve both parties. Either I serve man, or I serve Christ.

A conscious decision has to be made today, this hour, every minute. Who am I going to serve? Am I doing what I'm doing for the glory of God or for the accolades of others? I know what I want the answer to be, but putting it into practice is another story.

Philippians 4:13 reminds me that, "I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me."  ALL things. And "all things" include transforming my mind to think about what God wants from me and not about what I think man wants from me.

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