There was this TV show I used to watch about a family that lived on a horse farm. The story began well – it was a story of a broken family that finds each other again. There were a few things that were not okay about the story, like immodest clothing and some of the characters were too intimate outside of marriage, but at first those things didn’t bother me. Kissing was not a regular part of the show and the outfits were decent most of the time. But as the show went on it began to change. By the second season every girl was dressed very immodestly and every character had a boyfriend or girlfriend that they were way too intimate with. It was rather disturbing.

At first I tried to ignore all this immorality. I had a friend who was farther along in the series than I was and she told me that it would get better as I watched. It wasn’t getting better. I had a sickening feeling every time I watched the show, always checking to make sure my brother and dad weren’t watching the show (the clothes were too revealing to let any guy watch!). I knew that God was telling me to give up the show, but I couldn’t. At first I didn’t want to give it up because I felt obligated to watch it since we were borrowing the series from some friends. But as I watched more, the sickening feeling grew worse. “You need to stop watching that show,” I felt God telling me. “You know that’s the right thing to do. This show is not pure. Do you think this show reaches My standards?” I had to admit that the show was far from God’s standards, but I had become addicted to the show – for one, they always left you with a cliff-hanger, and two, I kind of enjoyed the romance. I felt wrong every time I watched the show, but the drama of the whole thing kept me intrigued.

Well, God finally convicted me that I needed to stop watching the show. He told me, “This is killing you (spiritually). You said you wanted to be pure, set apart for Me and for your future husband. Is this pure?” I knew then that I was done with this show. I had made a promise to God that I would be a girl of purity. This show didn’t meet the standard of God’s purity. So in that moment I went straight to my mom and said, “Mom, we need to give this show back.”

Now, maybe that story doesn’t sound like much of anything to you. So what? It was just a TV show. I thought the same thing until the Holy Spirit made it clear that it wasn’t. This show planted seeds of impurity in my mind which in turn influenced my thoughts. Impure thoughts would pop into my mind and I would wonder, “Where did that come from?”

Satan often uses things like TV shows, movies and books to try and get us to loosen our grip on our high standards. It’s just a story, he whispers. It won’t hurt you. And then when we give in we wonder why evil thoughts are surfacing or why we are acting in a way we usually would never act. This is why we must be careful what our eyes see and our ears hear. If the thought “it won’t hurt” comes to mind when deciding whether you should read or watch something, it’s probably the enemy talking.

But what if a friend recommends something? What if they think it’s completely fine and then when you watch (or read) you find it’s not? This is when you need to pray a strong prayer, and ask God for the strength you need to either put it down and turn it off (if you’re watching by yourself), or walk away (if you’re watching with a friend). That can be hard because you don’t want to offend a friend, but if you feel God telling you that a book or movie is compromising your purity, you need to go! Leave!

“But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness.” 1 Timothy 6:11

“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.” Philippians 4:8

A good rule of thumb for movies, TV shows or books is: if the entertainment does not let you dwell on true, honorable, right, pure, lovely or good things, then you probably shouldn’t allow it in your life.

I know how hard it is to give up something that you know isn’t pleasing to God but your sinful nature loves. After giving up that TV show, even though I felt a sense of relief I also felt a sense of… sadness. No more of the show? What else could I do? If you find that there’s an entertainment choice you’ve been making that you need to give up, find something else to fill the time that you would normally spend on that entertainment. Reading the Bible and Christian books that encourage you in the faith are some of the best replacements.

Sisters, whatever is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, and of good repute, dwell on these things!

With love,

Kelsey