A person without self-control is like a city with broken-down walls.
Proverbs 25:28 (NLT)
Moderaton: 1. the quality of being moderate; restraint; avoidance of extremes or excesses; temperance. 2. the act of moderating.
I've been thinking a lot lately about technology: the good and the bad. I depend on it, I love it (most of the time) and wonder if I could really do without it. Oh, I know I could do without it, but it wouldn't be pretty. I also sometimes wish that I had to do without it and had no choice in the matter.
It's like that with several things though...they can become controlling and addicting and take over our lives. I'm a big believer in the "everything in moderation" mantra and the need for self control, although I fail miserably when it comes to these all the time.
Food is a good thing, a necessity; however, if we let it, food can destroy us. I like sweets and chocolate as much as the next person. A little chocolate here and there isn't a problem. Eating large amounts of it long-term will most certainly cause problems. For me, it can cause many that I better not even share here. Food is necessary for our life though, God intended it to be. He didn't intend for us to gorge ourselves and become sick and unhealthy from too much food. We've got to put the fork down.
Alcohol. I'm not a drinker, never have been. But I'm also not an anti-drinker either. I just choose not to partake most of the time. Alcohol isn't bad. Too much alcohol is bad. Too much alcohol impairs thinking and judgment and can be dangerous and also damaging to organs in the body. And if you drink and drive, well, that's another blog...
Television. I like to watch television, I'm not going to lie. But I'm telling you there are times when I wish it didn't exist because there are LOTS of things I could be doing at home in my idle time, but instead, if I find a good movie or crime show on, I don't hesitate to sit down and waste the next two hours of my life. Television can be educational and informative...but it can also consume every spare minute and be detrimental to our thoughts. We've got to click the power button on the remote to "Off."
Shopping and Overspending. Oh, man, who doesn't love to go shopping? Ahh, before Dave Ramsey came into my life, I could blow so much money on junk, silly stupid stuff, without batting an eye. Madolyn had so many clothes and shoes it was absolutely ridiculous. I love shoes because they always fit, you know. I could buy a pair of shoes every month if I let myself. I have cut way, way back on my shoe purchases. (Having kids will do that to you...because they need shoes and clothes constantly!) But shoes are a necessity. Having 25 pair of shoes is not. (Unfortunately, my son has my love for shoes too!) We've got to stop buying so much stuff.
Texting/Cellular phones. I'm thankful for the phone in case of emergency and for quick communication. Love the idea that I can text someone anytime anywhere, and if they're available, they can respond in seconds. Love it. Don't love that there are people (myself at times) who are glued to their cell phones. As of yet, we do not have 'smart' phones. I'm not against them, I'm not mad at people who have them, but my fear is that if I get one, I will become one of those people who is constantly looking down at that phone, reviewing email, perusing Facebook, texting, searching, etc. I do not want to be that person. But remember, phones are not the problem. We need to put the phone on silent or vibrant and stick it in our purse or pocket.
Someone in our Sunday School Class said that her daughter said she didn't want children who don't look up when someone is speaking to them. YES. Me Too! And I'm afraid I'm not doing a very good job at that right now. How many times am I trying to get my kids to converse and they won't even look up because they are either looking at an i-Pod or a cell phone. Ahhh. Whose fault is that? Yeah, I know.
I'm not against technology, food, alcohol, cell phones, shoes, clothes, television, movies, games, etc. The problem is with me. I have to be able to say no, I have to be able to set boundaries and follow them. A couple weeks ago, we tried to implement a 30-minute policy in our household. It went pretty well for the first week and then I kind of forgot about it. It includes Jay and I. We are not to spend more than 30 minutes on the computer, on the I-pod, Kindle, Wii, Nintendo DS, or whatever. We haven't included TV into this 30-minute time limit just yet, but we are in the process of turning off our Dish and going to local channels only, along with utilizing Netflix and streaming shows like Duck Dynasty on our laptops through the TV. We ALL watch too much junk and it's been eating at Jay and I for about a year now. We are finally going through with it. Baby steps. And right now, with the weather getting nice, we will hardly be in the house at all if it's daylight anyway.
So my point of all of this is that too much of anything is not good for us. I just went through a few areas, but there are many, many more out there. Moderation is the key. And we are in control of that. We can gripe and complain all we want about technology, but we can turn it off when it gets out of hand. It is up to us. And if we don't teach moderation and self-control to the future generations, our children will have carpal tunnel of the wrists, crooked necks, be broke and morbidly obese for the rest of their lives...and then who will take care of us?
Proverbs 25:28 (NLT)
Moderaton: 1. the quality of being moderate; restraint; avoidance of extremes or excesses; temperance. 2. the act of moderating.
I've been thinking a lot lately about technology: the good and the bad. I depend on it, I love it (most of the time) and wonder if I could really do without it. Oh, I know I could do without it, but it wouldn't be pretty. I also sometimes wish that I had to do without it and had no choice in the matter.
It's like that with several things though...they can become controlling and addicting and take over our lives. I'm a big believer in the "everything in moderation" mantra and the need for self control, although I fail miserably when it comes to these all the time.
Food is a good thing, a necessity; however, if we let it, food can destroy us. I like sweets and chocolate as much as the next person. A little chocolate here and there isn't a problem. Eating large amounts of it long-term will most certainly cause problems. For me, it can cause many that I better not even share here. Food is necessary for our life though, God intended it to be. He didn't intend for us to gorge ourselves and become sick and unhealthy from too much food. We've got to put the fork down.
Alcohol. I'm not a drinker, never have been. But I'm also not an anti-drinker either. I just choose not to partake most of the time. Alcohol isn't bad. Too much alcohol is bad. Too much alcohol impairs thinking and judgment and can be dangerous and also damaging to organs in the body. And if you drink and drive, well, that's another blog...
Television. I like to watch television, I'm not going to lie. But I'm telling you there are times when I wish it didn't exist because there are LOTS of things I could be doing at home in my idle time, but instead, if I find a good movie or crime show on, I don't hesitate to sit down and waste the next two hours of my life. Television can be educational and informative...but it can also consume every spare minute and be detrimental to our thoughts. We've got to click the power button on the remote to "Off."
Shopping and Overspending. Oh, man, who doesn't love to go shopping? Ahh, before Dave Ramsey came into my life, I could blow so much money on junk, silly stupid stuff, without batting an eye. Madolyn had so many clothes and shoes it was absolutely ridiculous. I love shoes because they always fit, you know. I could buy a pair of shoes every month if I let myself. I have cut way, way back on my shoe purchases. (Having kids will do that to you...because they need shoes and clothes constantly!) But shoes are a necessity. Having 25 pair of shoes is not. (Unfortunately, my son has my love for shoes too!) We've got to stop buying so much stuff.
Texting/Cellular phones. I'm thankful for the phone in case of emergency and for quick communication. Love the idea that I can text someone anytime anywhere, and if they're available, they can respond in seconds. Love it. Don't love that there are people (myself at times) who are glued to their cell phones. As of yet, we do not have 'smart' phones. I'm not against them, I'm not mad at people who have them, but my fear is that if I get one, I will become one of those people who is constantly looking down at that phone, reviewing email, perusing Facebook, texting, searching, etc. I do not want to be that person. But remember, phones are not the problem. We need to put the phone on silent or vibrant and stick it in our purse or pocket.
Someone in our Sunday School Class said that her daughter said she didn't want children who don't look up when someone is speaking to them. YES. Me Too! And I'm afraid I'm not doing a very good job at that right now. How many times am I trying to get my kids to converse and they won't even look up because they are either looking at an i-Pod or a cell phone. Ahhh. Whose fault is that? Yeah, I know.
I'm not against technology, food, alcohol, cell phones, shoes, clothes, television, movies, games, etc. The problem is with me. I have to be able to say no, I have to be able to set boundaries and follow them. A couple weeks ago, we tried to implement a 30-minute policy in our household. It went pretty well for the first week and then I kind of forgot about it. It includes Jay and I. We are not to spend more than 30 minutes on the computer, on the I-pod, Kindle, Wii, Nintendo DS, or whatever. We haven't included TV into this 30-minute time limit just yet, but we are in the process of turning off our Dish and going to local channels only, along with utilizing Netflix and streaming shows like Duck Dynasty on our laptops through the TV. We ALL watch too much junk and it's been eating at Jay and I for about a year now. We are finally going through with it. Baby steps. And right now, with the weather getting nice, we will hardly be in the house at all if it's daylight anyway.
So my point of all of this is that too much of anything is not good for us. I just went through a few areas, but there are many, many more out there. Moderation is the key. And we are in control of that. We can gripe and complain all we want about technology, but we can turn it off when it gets out of hand. It is up to us. And if we don't teach moderation and self-control to the future generations, our children will have carpal tunnel of the wrists, crooked necks, be broke and morbidly obese for the rest of their lives...and then who will take care of us?
1 comment:
That's a good word, right there!
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