Black, Gray, and White

The past month or so I have been praying about taking my faith to the next level.  The one area of my life that I haven't given over to God completely is the TV shows that I watch.  Every week at church I come away feeling like God wants to me to let go of this area of my life and let Him guide what I watch.  This past Sunday our pastor talked about not letting even a hint of immorality into your life, which includes laughing at coarse jokes.  Well, we all know that TV is chock full of coarse jokes.  Even some of the most innocent shows have parts of crude humor.  I have been talking to my husband about this and he agrees but is also struggling with completely letting go of some show that we have been watching for years.  It's like being in the middle of a book and having to put it down and not know the ending.  It's not exactly easy.  So we decided to put the shows we like into categories.  Black shows are the ones with very blatant sexual themes or characters that have anti-Christian beliefs.  Gray shows are the ones where the story line doesn't revolve around sin but there are small amounts of sexual content or violence in side stories within the show.  White shows are plainly just shows that we feel comfortable watching with our kids in the room.  We decided to completely remove the black shows, keep the gray shows only on the TV in our bedroom and the white shows on the TV in the family room.  It sounds easy enough but it is not.  It has been one week and we have already cheated and watched a few of the black shows.  The goal of course is to watch less TV, spend more time with my kids and husband,  read more books, and grow more in my walk with God.  I think most people's black, gray, and white lists might be different based on your struggles and what God lays on your heart.  I am sure you are wondering what is on our lists and I am happy to share a few.

Black shows:  Grey's Anatomy, Modern Family, Mike & Molly, How I Met Your Mother, Glee, 2 Broke Girls, anything on MTV.
Gray shows: Mentalist, Hart of Dixie, Pretty Little Liars, the Bachelor
White shows: American Idol, Survivor, Amazing Race, HGTV, ESPN, Pioneer Woman, Once Upon a Time

There are a few more but I can't remember them now.  It is so easy in our lives to just let things slip in and have an influence over us without even realizing it.  Many of these shows seem so innocent but they really do impact the way you think and view the world.  I want to live a life that pleases God, and often time that will require sacrifice.  If I have to sacrifice a few TV shows to get there, it is definitely worth it.