Recently, we went unplugged from electronic devices in order to focus on vacation and family. We do this every year, and every year we realize just how cluttered with the unnecessary our lives have become. Something about walking away from the virtual world makes the real world come into focus.
From this re-focusing has come several changes…changes that focus on removing the unnecessary.
So, what things are unnecessary? For us, it would be defined as anything that pulls us away from Jesus rather than pushing us toward Him.
Every family has different distractions, but every family can look to verses like Phillipians 4:8 to guide them in deciding what is unnecessary:
Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy€”meditate on these things.
There are those who would criticize our seriousness on such matters, but we are committed to raising a family committed to Christ. The things that get in the way of wholeheartedly serving Him are…well…
Unnecessary.
Choosing to remove unnecessary things can be a difficult task. There are many things we humans hang on to simply because they are entertaining or fun. In fact, it isn’t uncommon for us to stand face to face with evil and call it good, or at the very least, “not that bad.” But, is there any room in a committed Christian’s life for anything that isn’t a direct reflection of who we are in Christ? We are told to turn from evil, why would we ever want to embrace it?
Perhaps the unnecessary things in your life aren’t really evil, but if they aren’t helping to turn your heart toward the Lord, then why have them around?
And just in case you are wondering, removing the unnecessary does not make you boring or unable to reach the lost. If anything, getting rid of the stuff that makes you look like everyone else lets a purity shine forth that would otherwise be concealed or blurred.
So, what things are causing distractions in your life? Have you removed anything unnecessary from your life? What has the outcome been from that removal? I’d love to hear your stories!
Cheryle says
Hello Amy, I don’t even remember how I found your blog, but I have been reading it and been encouraged by your love for Christ as you travel through this life with it’s many trials along the way. I have only just begun blogging as of lately. In response to your question, my dear husband and I about 7 years ago took a challenge to go cable free for a summer, and the impact it had my family was absolutely amazing. We found ourselves spending much more needed time in God’s word and doing things together as a family that we decided we would NEVER go back to cable tv. We do watch the ocassional dvd but we are careful to monitor what we allow ourselves to be entertained by. We even went as far as to cut out ALL movies that use the Lord’s name in vain even once! and guess what? that cuts out alot of movie choices, but we are eternally grateful to be living in HIS will.
Amy says
You’re right! Cutting out movies that take the Lord’s name in vain cuts out A LOT! We’ve been cable-free for about 7 years; however we noticed recently we were letting Netflix creep in where cable used to be. ACK! It is an ongoing process of refocusing over and over again!
valerie says
WE did the same thing! Even cutting out the movies that use the Lord’s name in vain once! You are soooo right, it cuts your choices down really quick. But we are so glad it did! God bless you Cheryl! Yay i’m not the only one!
Clara says
Dressing like everyone else is a distraction for me – so many Christians (especially women) get caught up in the fashion world, and for me, I don’t do so well with fashion. For starters, it causes me to covet clothing I can’t afford… and a lot of fashionable clothing isn’t godly/modest or feminine, anyway!
Another thing is family… this might sound terrible at first, because I was raised in a Christian family… but I have moved on to believe some different things from my family and their lack of tolerance can tend to hold me back from being who I should be for God… The problem is that emotional family ties can get in the way of Spiritual growth and progress. That is a really tough one to deal with!
And one last thing for me: I used to spend a lot of time online during the day – to the point that one day I started thinking about what my children would remember about me… and the thought that they would remember a mama who was glued to her computer was enough to make me want to change things and remove that distraction. I try to leave my computer off during the morning and not turn it on until mid-to-late afternoon now. It makes me feel so much better about life in general! And I have been enjoying my children a lot more since I made that decision too – and able to focus more of my attention to raising them in the way I believe the Lord would have me raise them. 🙂
Great post, Amy – made me think!
Amy says
Those are some big ones, Clara! The computer time has been an issue here as well. So glad I moved this thing into my bedroom where it is out of sight, out of mind most of the day!
Renee says
We are in the same boat with family. Our families are not christians. We limit the time we spend with them and our children are not allowed to be alone with them. As far as dressing I only wear dresses and skirt with very very modest tops. We as a family always dress like we are going to church whenever we go out of the house. I also have to watch to really limit my internet. I have found that when im on a schedule and am following it I have little time for the computer other than my recipes.
God bless
Christin says
Hi Amy!!
For us it’s the television – and it’s been easier to use and harder to break habit of when seasons around here get tough (like pregnancy and fatigue). I don’t want to stick my children in front of the tube every time they need to be “controlled”. I need to teach them self-control and how to handle life (including boredom).
I keep saying, “Well, after I have this baby, we’ll do x, y, z”. Well, I don’t want to wait until after the baby. Because after the baby comes, then there comes sleepless nights and it’s a new season of challenge.
I don’t want to continue to run to things like TV or other temporal and less then good things. Because the fact of the matter is, life is going to be challenging more than it’s going to be easy.
Thanks for this reminder, Amy. ((Hugs))
Amy says
We’ve had seasons (esp during pregnancy) of the TV being a huge issue (even without regular stations!) I agree w/ your thoughts totally! I could always find a reason to depend on it to “calm the children down” or what have you. It is a hard thing to cut out in the beginning, but I’m seeing where eventually, they aren’t nearly so bored WITHOUT the tv as they once were WITH it !
Celee says
This reminds me of Jonathan Edwards committment to choose between good, better, and best in his resolutions.
Celee
Renee says
We got rid of ALL TV and movies. We got rid of any toys that couldnt be real. We only have a very few with batteries. We only kept toys that use alot of imagination…cars, legos, play mobile etc. We also only read books that could be or are or were real in life and the bible. This has been great for our family. We have so much time to spend doing other things and we read the bible alot more. Good luck with your changes.
God bless
Amy says
Have you found it difficult to keep these things out of your house with family members buying for your children? Or do they not buy things?
Renee says
Our families are bad about it. They think we are “depriving our children” or they say “you did this or had that when you were a kid”. It takes each one of my kids an hour to open gifts at my moms house on CHRISTmas, there are so many gifts. They were only 3 and 3 months this past CHRISTmas. We have told them what they would like(can and cant have). We just return what we can and take the rest to the women and childrens shelter. They buy so much that they dont ever ask where such and such is because they dont know they bought it. We do let the kids keep 1 toy each, if there is a good one. LOL, we just have to laugh about it. We dont own a TV but they still buy them dvds every month. At this point we just do what we can. They do know to put the other kids stuff away when we come(monster toys, fairy stuff)and to cut the TV off. We do sometimes feel guilty when we get hand me downs from family that we dont want(like spiderman jammies)but we know that this is what God wants us to do.
God bless
Mary @ The Writer's Block says
Hi, Amy.
Great post! Good food for thought!
What distracts me from the Lord? What doesn’t? LOL.
Seriously, my heart chases anything that’s not him.
Your post has convicted me to think more proactively about ELIMINATING distractions in our family life (TV, activities, computer, video games, etc.). But also, we are convicted lately that we are in desperate need of a more vigorous PURSUIT of Christ as well. And don’t you think the two go hand-in-hand? The more you eliminate distractions, the more you’ll be focused on him, and the more you’re focused on him, the more the distractions will dull in their appeal? As it is with most of the Christian life…
I’m always talking about the “good” being the enemy of the “best.” As you say, these things may not be evil–they may even be “good”–but are they the “best”?
We’re always trying to identify the “best.” It’s hard.
Thanks again for your post.
Amy says
Apathy is our enemy. When we stop caring, we stop seeking. And you are SO right about pursuing Christ! We are in that same mode! Especially with our homeschooling right now…I need to keep the focus on Christ and the Bible and not on the academics b/c the Bible tells us where true knowledge comes from! Great comment! Thanks!
valerie says
I SOOOOOO could not agree with you more. I am finding all the time things that distract me, and keep me zoned on pointless things. How quickly I get rid of them depends on how close I am with God at the moment however 😉
The more ridiculous things I remove the more I look back and wonder “what in the world was I doing before?!?!”
I know how to partially answer that. I WAS like a robotic drone trained to watch TV all time so that I “didn’t miss anything”. When in actuality I was missing ALL the important stuff. sheesh I could go on and on. We cut out all cable two years ago and never looked back. WE still have one tv for video’s, which we only watch every so often. We also homeschool because we feel like we can do the job of the school without wasting time away from each other as a family. We have cut out sports and other activities that pull us in too many directions. We still allow the kids to do stuff outside the home with other kids, just not things that have a requirement of more than one day a week. OOOOKKKKKKK so that was a looong reponse…sorry. 🙂
Michelle G says
We have gone through and removed most secular books, music and dvd’s. It was way to easy to sink into those items instead of the bible, christian music or Godly movies.
Corine says
Great post! I agree. And some of the comments I could have posted my name to as well. I didn’t realize all the things our family has cut out or kept out of our lives in effort to draw near to Christ until after I read these comments. For us, right now we need to do it again. I desire less time spent on video gaming with my children and more time together as a family building memories. Summer has been busy and fun, but a little too distant and we are each doing our own thing perhaps a little too much. I think shaving some of the less important individual things (like video gaming and tv) to make more time for each other would be so good for us right now. Thanks so much for your insight and encouragement… I’m excited to go and do better! Corine 😀
Kristy says
I have cut out most distractions in my life – and I have felt God leading me in getting rid of every one of them. It may have been particular music, TV shows, etc. I think my biggest distraction these days is the computer! I have so many godly blogging “friends”, and I love them all and want to be “in” on their lives. However, that takes time I often do not have. It is surely a hard balance at times.
Traci says
So true Amy! Nice to meet you!
Fruitful Harvest says
Hi Amy,
I have been on a total blogging break…and will be for a few more weeks.
I have been cleaning the garage and decluttering the whole house. Purging things I have been holding on to. It feels good to let go of ALL the stuff.
The sun has been shining and life is good!
We have had 2 weeks of VBS and a few out of town guest….oh and training our new Border Collie Jasper!
Peace,Love and Prayers!
I will be having a giveaway in a few weeks,upon my return from break! (It will be my 2 year blog anniversary Aug 24)
Amy says
How wonderful! What are the temps there right now? No way I could work in the garage in this heat!
Can’t wait to see what you’ll be giving away, my friend. 🙂