Oh, Be Careful Little Eyes

In a world with so many forms of entertainment, it has become nearly impossible to avoid seeing, hearing, or reading things that influence the mind in negative ways. You and your friends have become so conditioned to profanity, indecency, and violence that you don't truly realize the effect that your entertainment choices may have. Just because everyone else goes to see a particular movie doesn't make it a right choice for the teen who desires to follow God. Sometimes you have to make a hard choice and opt out of a movie or television show that is laced with profanity, indecency, and violence. For the sake of your own soul (and your parents' sanity), dare to be different! Dare to take a stand against the things that "everybody else is doing" and live for the glory of the Holy One who created you for a relationship with him.

Everything you take in, good and bad, becomes a permanent resident in your mind, whether or not you realize it. The profane language you hear will eventually slip out of your own mouth. The violence you watch will eventually manifest itself in angry attitudes and actions, directed either toward others or yourself. The images you look at will create urges and desires that can, and likely will, lead to sinful behavior. "Oh, be careful little eyes what you see." If you choose to take in garbage and filth, those are the very attributes that you will be known by.

The Bible says: "Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse" (Philippians 4:8, The Message). Being good is a real struggle, but God promises to honor those who honor him and to provide a way to escape temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13). The kicker is, you have to choose to walk away from temptation.

Parents, we probably don't do a good enough job of instilling godly values in our children. We may talk about purity and godly character, but if we ourselves choose to indulge in entertainment with mature themes or a secular worldview, we set ourselves up for failure and open the door for impurity to creep into our kids' lives. After all, children will live what they learn, so we'd better set the bar high and practice what we preach! No sacrifice is too great for our kids, so lay your own bad entertainment choices on the altar of God's grace and do the right thing for your kids. They are worth the sacrifice!