Daily Christian Living for a Happy Heart

Ladies,

As time marches on further into what the Bible calls “the last days” it becomes more apparent to me how people have changed in the way they think, behave, and live.

Yet, this Biblical truth stands as well: “there is nothing new under the sun.”

People have always been prone to wrong thinking and wrong living regardless of the century. But in this season of media that can highlight the wickedness in the world at an alarming dose, and as media becomes less authentically human and more indistinguishably fake, I find this truth all the more guiding and all the more beautiful “to remain unstained from the world”.

The pursuit of living holy is so vital to the Christian, that the scripture instructs us that true religion before God is to remain unstained from the world.

“The world” is any way of thinking, behaving or living that conflicts with Godly ways of thinking, behaving, and living. In your pursuit of being “unstained from the world”, it is of utmost importance to know what the Holy Bible actually says to us about thinking, behaving and living.

We should be more concerned with drenching ourselves in the Word of God than any other form of media or entertainment on a daily basis. When we do intake anything, it should be what scripture says to take in:

Did you sing today?

The Holy Bible tells us countless times through the book of Psalms to sing to the Lord, to praise him, to sing a new song, to praise him with loud shouts, with various instruments, with dancing!

Did you go outside today and spend time walking in God’s creation, looking at the trees and the creatures and feeling the wind, rain, or sun on your face?

The scripture says so much about the glory of God in His creation.

Just going outdoors is so important to saturating ourselves in God’s glory and his handiwork. Think about how people lived closely with the outdoors in the Bible times and throughout history, walking everywhere, fetching water, physically making their bread and their clothing. I say this not to elevate a different time as simply better, but to identify certain aspect of your modern life that have actually subtracted things that are good for you. In living without the constant flow of media and screens, you can just be with God while you go about your day. You will have the solitude to meditate on His Word. You will have the moments to pray. You will have the time to sing songs to him. You will decide to make something instead of turning to a screen. By turning the world “off”, you will begin to feel lighthearted and be more productive without the constant dragging down of outside chaos, opinions, and news.

Not that all screen time is bad, just like not reading books all the time is bad, or doing anything of interest to you for long periods of time is inherently “bad”.

Not all “screen time” is made equal, it’s what you are doing on the screen that matters, but I would say that mindless scrolling, news media, and even constantly checking what other wives at home are doing should not dominate your day, your time and attention, especially when you have a husband to serve, a home to keep, children to nurture, and interests to develop.

Scrolling and news seem somewhat innocuous, but those two things can dim a mood drastically upon upsetting headlines. While we need to be aware of some happenings, it is the constant daily imbibing that we must guard against in order to prevent the imbalance of all the bad with hardly any good being served alongside it. If only every horrible news story came with the onslaught of all the good, but it does not!

In a similar but different online habit, checking in on someone else’s life such as an “influencer” or even someone we know, reminds me of this warning in scripture:

Are we “going from house to house” and being idle instead of “working at home” as we are instructed to do? We each need to consider this for ourselves and draw the line for what we deem would best align with this verse. There is a big difference in checking a blog for an article to enjoy every once in a while, or tuning into a video here and there for some encouragement or help, contrasted to checking someone’s feed every single day to see what they are doing instead of checking on your home and family with the same intensity of interest.

It’s good to have downtime, but is the use of your downtime online harming or helping?

Adults are using content online to “check out” but it is having an influence on them as a whole. Scrolling hyperactive shorts and tiktok videos teach our brains to normalize hyperactive and brash ways of communicating. Checking in on another woman’s life online teaches us that this is normal and ok because we have access to her online, but even without the internet we were warned that this can make us idle or be a reflection that we are being idle! In person or online, going from house to house as a daily habit can promote bad mindset and bad behavior like idleness and gossip.

What You Allow to Influence You

We need to guard ourselves against things that train us toward immaturity and choose things that train us up into maturity. When we look at content online, we need to choose content that will calm our minds, bring us peace, and help us think, live, and communicate in a Godly way and at a human pace, which is much slower than what we see online.

Think about the cultural impact of training people to listen and speak in an ultra-fast paced and brash way. It certainly does not train people to behave the way the Holy Bible tells us to communicate. We are supposed to be courteous, slow to speak, and be reverent in behavior as older women. It is enough of a challenge to slow down and live by those verses, but when we are constantly intaking the opposite of this behavior, we can be prone to emulate it.

Contrast media and scroll time to the time you spend in the Word, in prayer, outdoors, doing your own household work or learning and practicing a skill.

Just consider what you take in and how much of your life is being devoted to what you expose yourself to online, and what is truly shaping you every day. If you take in culture, it will shape you. People seem to almost spend time online as a hobby, but this is not something that develops skill or talent in any way.

I will leave you with 5 things to change today to edify you, enrich your development, and keep your days interesting without relying on the internet as much for a source of fun or interest.

1. Always be reading an interesting book. I buy about 5 books at a time and read in bed to spend less time scrolling the internet before sleep. It also helps calm my mind because reading is a much slower process than the hyperactive environment of scrolling.
2. Spend as many hours outdoors as possible. Heat or cold, I have lived in both extreme environments. Buy the right clothing and venture out. Do the things that particular climate allows you to do outdoors. Walking outdoors, biking, gardening, snow shoeing, or just taking indoor things outdoors, like teatime, reading, etc.
3. Spend time each day developing your interests. Sewing, piano playing, decorating, writing, obviously yours will be unique to you, but those are some of the things I dive into and practice as a part of my life because I enjoy them, I enjoy the process, and it is good for us to immerse ourselves in good projects that calm and strengthen us.
4. Serve and bless your family. Take the focus off of yourself and do what Jesus taught us to do. Work to serve your family every day. Pray for the strength and the ability to do this work. It can be exhausting because it is work.
5. Read the Holy Bible every single day. You can read the New Testament in the morning and the Old Testament at night. How ever you choose to read, pray and read your Bible every day.

Abide in the Lord Jesus