CULTUREনমুনা

CULTURE: What We Watch and Listen To Day One Welcom to Day One of Culture! To kick-off things, we’re starting with: what you watch and what you listen to. Let me start by saying that the point of this devotional is not to have you immediately cancel your Netflix subscription and go delete every Juice Wrld song on your playlist. It is not my job to convict you. The point of this devotional is for you to recognize different areas of our culture and shed light on how much power and influence these areas have over you. Romans 12:2 NIV says “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Scripture is clear: there is a pattern of this world, or ‘culture’, if you will, that we need to stay away from. In other words, we need to be ‘holy.’ Here’s what 1 Peter 1:16 NIV says: For it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” The “I” in this verse is God. It’s important to understand that the word ‘holy’ means to be ‘set-apart.’ As followers of Jesus, we are not meant to just “go with the  flow“. We’re supposed to be set apart from culture. We’re called to be different. The movies, tv shows, and music of our culture has a lot more influence over who you are than you know. Think about it. If you open up whatever app you listen to music on, what artists and songs are going to come up on your recently played list? Are they beneficial to your walk with Christ? Would you play them with Jesus sitting next to you? Some of today’s artist’s lyrics are heartbreaking: suicide, drugs, money, poor life choices, etc. Do you know the effect those lyrics have on our souls? They make us numb to ideas and thoughts we should never be numb to. It takes these serious, deep-rooted issues, and puts a catchy beat and melody over them, and now, all of a sudden, we’re singing it in our heads and over our souls all day. And you know what? That’s exactly what the enemy wants—for us to think of it as ”not that big of a deal.“ Let’s redefine culture. Suicidal thoughts are a big deal. Depression is a big deal. Addiction is a big deal. Stop conforming to the patterns of this world and recognize that God is calling you to a life beyond the struggles you didn’t even know you had. Think It Through: Is what you listen to and what you watch beneficial to your walk with Jesus? What changes do you need to make? Spend the next few moments asking God to search your heart. Then make some changes.