Goodbye TV

In the spirit of my last post, I have a confession to make. Lately, my favorite thing to do is to curl up on the couch and channel surf. I can seriously waste so much time in front of the television. It is so comforting to forget about my own life and my own problems and to escape to another world. It is a distraction from dealing with the situations in my own life—from the difficult areas of growth to which I know the Lord is calling me, from interacting with people who have hurt me deeply, from interacting with people who have not hurt me (yet), and from dealing with the heartache of the situations of suffering around me in the lives of people I love. For me right now, television is all about “me time”—it is all about numbing me and not about serving God or others. Television has become my cowardice. I have been going to it for comfort instead of going to my Lord for comfort. Going to the television for comfort does not require dealing with my struggles. Going to the Lord does.

I don’t want to live a life of selfish indulgence and cowardly waste. I want to make the most of the gift of life that God has given me. I want to spend my life growing in the love of my Savior—in knowing Him; knowing His love for Himself, for others and for me; loving Him in worship; and loving Him by loving others. I do not want anything to distract me from this. I want my life to be a life of worshipful sacrificial service, not indulgence and waste.

So, we are giving up cable. This essentially means we will not have television reception at our home. Please do not misconstrue what I am saying—I am not saying that watching television is sinful. I actually think moderate television watching can be a healthy form of recreation and source of learning. But for me right now, it has become something that I am using sinfully. And so for me, for now, it has to go.