The Lust Dare: Day #5

Day #5: Be Careful, Little Eyes.

“Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.” –Hebrew 12:2

In today’s modern age, media plays a huge role in our lives and in our battle against the flesh. I have already told you a little of how huge books were in my struggle, and I will flesh that out even more at a future date. But for today, I want to talk specifically about the area of television.

TV and movies are chock full of areas that would aid in lust. Even the commercials in between shows are an issue, as many of them contain scantily clad men and women. Many movies and TV shows also have men and woman in different stages of undress, depending on the setting and the scene. Every time something like that pops up, our mind is tempted to go somewhere that it shouldn’t. It takes a lot less than the duration of a commercial for that picture to be imprinted on our minds to then pop up later when we are least suspecting.

Then there are the romantic scenes which rang from a simple holding of hands to watching couples literally in the act that God created to be a thing of infinite privacy and beauty within the confines of marriage. My mother would always ask people “If your neighbors were engaged in marital intimacy, would you go peek in their window and watch? Even for just a second or two? What if they invited you too?” When the person she asked would respond with shocked dismay, she would reply: “Well, what is the difference between that and watching it on television?” After all, your neighbors did invite you to watch….

Then there is also the issue of innuendo, which is so incredibly prevalent in today’s television and movie culture. And it is a much bigger issue than you would realize. I was watching a movie the other night with the title of The Ugly Truth. And it was loaded with innuendo. Every other word it almost seemed there was reference to sex, or masturbating, or something else of that sort. The plot really intrigued me, but I had to stop watching much less than half way through, because it was really making it insanely difficult to keep my mind from going where I didn’t want it to go. And where I knew it shouldn’t go.

And the worst part is that I still want to go back and finish the film. My mind wants to keep buying into the lie that the reason I want to watch it is to see where the plot goes. But I know how the plot is going to end up. I know who the girl is going to end up with, and who she is not. That is how strong of control lust fed by what we let ourselves see and hear can be.

Suffice it to say that what we see on the screen is a prime place for temptation and can cause an immense battle. Or we might have lost that battle a long time ago, and don’t even realize it. So today is the day when we take back that ground that we have lost and once again pick up the sword.

The way that I took back that ground was by completely eliminating all TV shows and Movies from my watch list that had really romance of any kind in them. I started watching cooking shows instead, or a couple other kinds of reality TV. Honestly, I just stopped watching much TV at all. Before that I would watch stuff on my computer, as we have never had cable, or I would watch a movie with my mom or something. But then I just stopped watching much at all, and when I did watch something, it would be something with no romance or physical touch in it of pretty much any kind. The most “romantic” thing I watched was the old A-team.

For a long time, many months in fact, I kept this up. I watch more of that kind of stuff now, but honestly I really didn’t until the day I was in a relationship and some of the thoughts that would come out of those types of movies were ok to a certain degree. And if it is causing my mind to go in the wrong places, like when watching The Ugly Truth the other night, I find it is wisest to just turn it off.

There are different ways of avoiding this temptation. Some might struggle with the innuendo, and will just cut those types of shows out of their regular watching habits. Some married people who have a hard time with visual in the case of scantily clad men or woman will only watch something with their spouse, and will otherwise come up with some other form of entertainment. Some people will have someone watch with them who has seen the film/show before and can tell them when to look away.

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”

–Romans 12:1

Today’s Dare

Set up a plan today as to what types of things you are going to watch and which you are not. And then take radical steps to eliminate those that you are not. If that means throwing away DVD’s or locking yourself out of certain movie sites on the internet, than by all means do it. Do not budge on any of it, but think through different scenarios where you someone might want you to watch something with them, and be prepared on how to handle that. Let your accountability partner(s) know what you have decided to refrain from watching, and ask them to keep you accountable in that.

The Lust Dare: Day #1

The Lust Dare: Day#2

The Lust Dare: Day #3

The Lust Dare: Day #4

Preparing for a Future Valentine

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The Lust Dare: Day #5

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