A Magnolia's Heart Beats

Time to Weed My Heart

"Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you." ~ James 1:21

Some moral filth is obvious. There are shows on television that make me blush and feel very uncomfortable. From obscenities to sex and violence, some of the things can get really bad. It's the same with some secular fiction, and I'll admit that there was some music that I used to listen to "back in the day" that was less than pure.

I began watching more movies and shows on the Hallmark Channel, the good old-fashioned shows like Little House on the Prairie, The Waltons, Murder, She Wrote, Matlock, Perry Mason, McBride, etc. I quit watching one of my favorite television shows because I one night while I was eating supper in the recliner, my husband walked through the room and said, "Oh, gross! How can you watch that while you're eating?" I realized that I had gotten desensitized to autopsies done on CSI! Plus, I started having nightmares about severed heads in newspaper machines.

I weeded my heart sometime back of some shows that I felt were bad for me. I also felt the need to pull away from secular fiction, because at the time I wasn't balancing it with reading God's Word. Since my decision to do that, I've read some great books, but sometimes there are some authors that just call my name, beckoning me. I recently read Angels Fall by Nora Roberts and thought, "Oh, this was good!" But there was sex before marriage, cussing and murder. Still, secular fiction is calling my name. So far I am resisting, until I get a clear response on what's okay to read and what's not. A divine revelation would be nice, but I thought I'd ask friends in blogland since divine revelations don't seem to come my way that often.

Lately, I have been watching Law & Order (the original one) on TNT in the afternoons. I love it! While there is some cussing, and of course violence, the show centers around tracking down suspects and on prosecuting the offenders. I love the show, but I wonder if I've just traded off one show for another. It doesn't seem quite as bad as CSI did, but obviously, the show is not "pure".

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." ~ Philippians 4:8

There just seems to be a fine line between going over the top and flying just below the radar. I want to watch things that are right for me to watch. I want to honor God. There are times when I wish we didn't even have a television, then the choice would be made for me, but I think God wants me to use the wisdom He's given me to discern what's right.

I know this can be a sensitive topic and I am not on a soapbox declaring Grey's Anatomy evil. I'm just trying to get some thoughts together on whether I'm being holier-than-thou with my tv watching. I would love for Jesus to audibly say, "Honey, it's okay if you watch Law & Order. I love that show!" Or, "I know Grey's is pretty dicey with the sex, but in this day and age..." Obviously, that's not going to happen.

Can you tell I'm looking for a little guidance here? This really seems to be a struggle in my heart right now. I want to honor God, and here I am at 37 (for a few more days) evaluating things I should have evaluated a long time ago. I know we are to be in the world but not of it. I just want to honor God. That's all. I have talked with my husband about it, and he's not as concerned with it as I am. He loves television and movies. If it's on, he'll watch it and not count the number of bad words in it. He overlooks it. Me, I'm a television and movie snob, I guess you'd say.


What are some shows you watch on television? What are some of your favorite movies?