Post by Cindy on Apr 25, 2015 10:46:58 GMT -5
I've loved to read ever since I was a little toddler and my mother would read to me. I quickly learned to read so that I could read those wonderful stories myself and was reading by the time I was 5. I'd read anything I could get my hands on, even as a little child. Fiction, non fiction, biographies, whatever. I seemed to just inhale the books as fast as my parents could get them for me. They soon realized how hard it was going to be to keep me supplied with books, so they took me to the library and I got my first library card when I was about 6. About a year later, I became very concerned and upset because I was pretty sure that I'd run out of books to read by the time I was all grown up and that was just devastating to me! Of course my parents assured me that I wouldn't and that there were plenty for me to read. I finally decided to trust them and went on to just enjoy reading. I soon realized that my favorite books were about ancient history, archaeology, science fiction and fantasy, as well as anything concerning God and His Word. Those have remained my favorites all my life.
When I first opened Fresh Hope back in 2003, I was quickly confronted with people who felt it was sinful to read books that had anything to do with witchcraft, magic, psychics, or anything that was against God's Word. On the one hand, I could understand their fears, but on the other hand, I felt that I read all those kinds of books my whole life and really didn't believe that they had hurt me at all. I have to admit that I really didn't dwell on it or talk to the Lord about it. I just knew I loved sci fi/fantasy books and they often included those kind of things. I sure didn't want to stop reading them and was absolutely sure they couldn't and didn't harm me in any way at all. They were just fun and interesting to read. For many years I simply tried to avoid those kind of discussions unless they became so heated that I had to intervene. At that point I tried to put out the fire without siding with anyone, which didn't work to well, but I didn't know what else to do. During all those years, I continued to read my books and enjoy them.
I have a fairly big library of my own, and often re-read my books every few years. It was during this time of trying to avoid this subject on Fresh Hope, that the Lord began to teach me His Truth about this, even though I hadn't asked Him to. I think I'd just basically said something like, "It's not bad to read these is it Lord?" and then promptly forgot all about it. I should also tell you of something else that happened that was life changing for me, just before I opened Fresh Hope. I'd been injured at work and could no longer work. I obviously had a great deal of time on my hands all of a sudden, so I determined to use it to study His Word and pray. So instead of the typical hour a day I'd spent before this, I began spending anywhere from 4-6 hours in His Word studying with Him every day and have continued to do so to this day. So talking to the Lord and hearing from Him was and is the norm for me.
Back to the point of this story. My library was filled with all kinds of books at this time. Everything from bible study aids,Christian fiction and fantasy, to science fiction, fantasy, ancient history, archaeology, books about Indians,... all different kinds of books. By 2006, I'd noticed that I was also becoming quite uncomfortable reading some of my books that had magic in them or talked about psychic type powers. At that point I kind of figured the Lord must be trying to show me something. I felt in my spirit that I was to pay attention to how I felt when I was reading my books and right after I finished reading one. I felt that I was to also pay attention to how I acted and reacted to others at those times. That seemed rather strange to me, but I did my best to pay attention to those things. At first I really didn't notice anything. I was just "me". I wasn't really sure what the Lord was getting at.
It was around this time that I noticed that I was getting very uncomfortable when I re-read some of my books. Especially the ones with a lot of sexual scenes or innuendos in them. It had never bothered me before. I knew sex outside of marriage was wrong, just as I knew that dabbling in magic,new age stuff, psychics etc was wrong, but still felt that reading about it wasn't going to hurt anyone. Well it finally got so bad, that I just couldn't read books by certain authors anymore, even though they were considered to be some of the best science fiction writers of all time. I just wasn't enjoying them the way I used to. I put them away on the shelf and figured I'd give them a try again in another year or so and see how it went. I didn't think that was what the Lord was talking about though. I finally decided that the only way I was going to be able to tell if there was a difference in how I felt or acted when reading my books would be if I stuck to one type of book for a couple of weeks and then changed to another type.
Please remember that all during this time, I was sure there was nothing wrong with reading whatever interested us. After all, they're just stories for entertainment. No one was going to run out and start acting them out! So first I chose one of my favorite sci-fi series that I knew would take me a couple of weeks to read them all. Again I didn't notice anything different. I felt and acted like me. So I started reading a Christian fiction series I loved. At first I didn't notice the difference, but as the days went by, it became more obvious to me, and I finally began to get a glimmer of what the Lord was trying to show me. I DID feel different and I acted different too. Oh, I was still me and not acting in any way that others would notice any difference, but compared to how I'd felt and acted during the earlier two weeks there WAS a change!
That really surprised me, so I decided to keep experimenting to see if it would continue to hold true or it was just a coincidence. Sure enough, over the following months I saw the changes in myself more and more clearly. They were little ones, more like a change in my attitude and the way I viewed things I guess you could say. It's really hard to describe. Let me try to though. When I read a Christian fiction book, I was more relaxed, peaceful, and definitely more loving in my thoughts, words, and actions both during the time I was reading it and even after I'd finished it. That wouldn't change until I picked up a different kind of book. When I read my other books, I was more aggressive, agitated, and just generally discontent. Thankfully, since I spent plenty of time in His Word every morning, that would leave me as soon as I began my time with Him, but it was still disconcerting to realize how they affected me. I'll never forget the last thing I realized about how I felt when I finished reading a book. It didn't hit me until what became the end of my experiment. I'd just finished reading a wonderful Christian fiction book, and I felt the Lord asking me how I felt. The very first word that came into my mind was, "clean", then, "refreshed". Looking back at the last fantasy book I'd read that wasn't Christian, I immediately recognized the feeling I'd had when I finished that one: dirty! It wasn't obvious unless immediately compared to how I felt after reading a book about godly people living godly lives, but when I did that, it did become obvious. Plus, I think the Lord helped me see it too of course.
And so I began to talk to the Lord about it. What He showed me in His Word wasn't anything new really, I just hadn't applied it to things I read or watched on TV or things like that. I'd thought of it more as applying to being careful of our thoughts then anything else. What did He show me? He reminded me of the scriptures that talk about guarding your heart and mind and how what's in your mind is what will influence your feelings and actions.
Since that time and doing that experiment with the Lord, He's shown me a great deal more about how what we read affects us, both short term and long term. I'm afraid that I've had to do a complete turn around in my thinking on this. I now realize that what we read for entertainment, as well as what we watch on TV or the movies, has a big effect on us even though we're usually not aware of it. If you doubt me, talk to the Lord about it yourself and ask Him to do this same experiment with you. I now read only Christian books and I'm very careful about what kind of Christian fiction I read as well. I don't want anything that's got false teaching in it, even if it's a fiction book. I take what the Lord says in His Word very seriously, especially since He went to the trouble of showing me why we need to be so careful. I've learned a great deal more about it since I did that experiment and will gladly share that too, in my next post.
“let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance—” (Proverbs 1:5)
“My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones. Then you will understand what is right and just and fair—every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you.” (Proverbs 2:1–11)
When I first opened Fresh Hope back in 2003, I was quickly confronted with people who felt it was sinful to read books that had anything to do with witchcraft, magic, psychics, or anything that was against God's Word. On the one hand, I could understand their fears, but on the other hand, I felt that I read all those kinds of books my whole life and really didn't believe that they had hurt me at all. I have to admit that I really didn't dwell on it or talk to the Lord about it. I just knew I loved sci fi/fantasy books and they often included those kind of things. I sure didn't want to stop reading them and was absolutely sure they couldn't and didn't harm me in any way at all. They were just fun and interesting to read. For many years I simply tried to avoid those kind of discussions unless they became so heated that I had to intervene. At that point I tried to put out the fire without siding with anyone, which didn't work to well, but I didn't know what else to do. During all those years, I continued to read my books and enjoy them.
I have a fairly big library of my own, and often re-read my books every few years. It was during this time of trying to avoid this subject on Fresh Hope, that the Lord began to teach me His Truth about this, even though I hadn't asked Him to. I think I'd just basically said something like, "It's not bad to read these is it Lord?" and then promptly forgot all about it. I should also tell you of something else that happened that was life changing for me, just before I opened Fresh Hope. I'd been injured at work and could no longer work. I obviously had a great deal of time on my hands all of a sudden, so I determined to use it to study His Word and pray. So instead of the typical hour a day I'd spent before this, I began spending anywhere from 4-6 hours in His Word studying with Him every day and have continued to do so to this day. So talking to the Lord and hearing from Him was and is the norm for me.
Back to the point of this story. My library was filled with all kinds of books at this time. Everything from bible study aids,Christian fiction and fantasy, to science fiction, fantasy, ancient history, archaeology, books about Indians,... all different kinds of books. By 2006, I'd noticed that I was also becoming quite uncomfortable reading some of my books that had magic in them or talked about psychic type powers. At that point I kind of figured the Lord must be trying to show me something. I felt in my spirit that I was to pay attention to how I felt when I was reading my books and right after I finished reading one. I felt that I was to also pay attention to how I acted and reacted to others at those times. That seemed rather strange to me, but I did my best to pay attention to those things. At first I really didn't notice anything. I was just "me". I wasn't really sure what the Lord was getting at.
It was around this time that I noticed that I was getting very uncomfortable when I re-read some of my books. Especially the ones with a lot of sexual scenes or innuendos in them. It had never bothered me before. I knew sex outside of marriage was wrong, just as I knew that dabbling in magic,new age stuff, psychics etc was wrong, but still felt that reading about it wasn't going to hurt anyone. Well it finally got so bad, that I just couldn't read books by certain authors anymore, even though they were considered to be some of the best science fiction writers of all time. I just wasn't enjoying them the way I used to. I put them away on the shelf and figured I'd give them a try again in another year or so and see how it went. I didn't think that was what the Lord was talking about though. I finally decided that the only way I was going to be able to tell if there was a difference in how I felt or acted when reading my books would be if I stuck to one type of book for a couple of weeks and then changed to another type.
Please remember that all during this time, I was sure there was nothing wrong with reading whatever interested us. After all, they're just stories for entertainment. No one was going to run out and start acting them out! So first I chose one of my favorite sci-fi series that I knew would take me a couple of weeks to read them all. Again I didn't notice anything different. I felt and acted like me. So I started reading a Christian fiction series I loved. At first I didn't notice the difference, but as the days went by, it became more obvious to me, and I finally began to get a glimmer of what the Lord was trying to show me. I DID feel different and I acted different too. Oh, I was still me and not acting in any way that others would notice any difference, but compared to how I'd felt and acted during the earlier two weeks there WAS a change!
That really surprised me, so I decided to keep experimenting to see if it would continue to hold true or it was just a coincidence. Sure enough, over the following months I saw the changes in myself more and more clearly. They were little ones, more like a change in my attitude and the way I viewed things I guess you could say. It's really hard to describe. Let me try to though. When I read a Christian fiction book, I was more relaxed, peaceful, and definitely more loving in my thoughts, words, and actions both during the time I was reading it and even after I'd finished it. That wouldn't change until I picked up a different kind of book. When I read my other books, I was more aggressive, agitated, and just generally discontent. Thankfully, since I spent plenty of time in His Word every morning, that would leave me as soon as I began my time with Him, but it was still disconcerting to realize how they affected me. I'll never forget the last thing I realized about how I felt when I finished reading a book. It didn't hit me until what became the end of my experiment. I'd just finished reading a wonderful Christian fiction book, and I felt the Lord asking me how I felt. The very first word that came into my mind was, "clean", then, "refreshed". Looking back at the last fantasy book I'd read that wasn't Christian, I immediately recognized the feeling I'd had when I finished that one: dirty! It wasn't obvious unless immediately compared to how I felt after reading a book about godly people living godly lives, but when I did that, it did become obvious. Plus, I think the Lord helped me see it too of course.
And so I began to talk to the Lord about it. What He showed me in His Word wasn't anything new really, I just hadn't applied it to things I read or watched on TV or things like that. I'd thought of it more as applying to being careful of our thoughts then anything else. What did He show me? He reminded me of the scriptures that talk about guarding your heart and mind and how what's in your mind is what will influence your feelings and actions.
Since that time and doing that experiment with the Lord, He's shown me a great deal more about how what we read affects us, both short term and long term. I'm afraid that I've had to do a complete turn around in my thinking on this. I now realize that what we read for entertainment, as well as what we watch on TV or the movies, has a big effect on us even though we're usually not aware of it. If you doubt me, talk to the Lord about it yourself and ask Him to do this same experiment with you. I now read only Christian books and I'm very careful about what kind of Christian fiction I read as well. I don't want anything that's got false teaching in it, even if it's a fiction book. I take what the Lord says in His Word very seriously, especially since He went to the trouble of showing me why we need to be so careful. I've learned a great deal more about it since I did that experiment and will gladly share that too, in my next post.
“let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance—” (Proverbs 1:5)
“My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones. Then you will understand what is right and just and fair—every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you.” (Proverbs 2:1–11)
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