I used to LOVE romance novels. I had a large library of them. I had my favorite authors, such as Nora Roberts and Danielle Steel. When a new novel of theirs would be published, I was right there, ready to purchase and read. As a non-Christian, the blatant and detailed acts in these novels were ingrained in my brain, causing unrealistic expectations of relationships. The themes of many of these novels, other than the blatant sex, usually involved things that were horrible to put in my brain. Some of the books were about the allure of rich, powerful men. Some glamorized criminal acts, such as theft. Some delved into witchcraft.
And yet, I didn't see the harm in them. Year after year, day after day, I filled my brain with these stories. I can still name the main characters in a few of my favorite story-lines. I had begun reading these types of books in high school, after outgrowing the Sweet Valley High books. These books portrayed the bad boys as really good underneath, faith as prudish, and old-fashioned values as dangerous.
It's hard to understand just how those words on pages read years ago are still with me. How could any mere mortal man compare with the storybook versions that could fulfill every desire, were rich, confident, and never had any real problems... or values? The truth is that it was very unfair to expect a man to fill a void in me that only God can fill, and yet these books told me that it was possible.
After accepting Christ, I was looking around my house one day. Shelves of these books were staring at me. A weight fell upon my shoulders. I knew that they had to go. This was hard for me because the characters in these books had been my friends. I had read and re-read many of them over and over. I knew that, by accepting Christ, I might lose real people as friends; but it had never occurred to me that something as silly as my books would have to go.
I love Jesus. I know His grace is amazing. It was by His power that I knew I could do what He commanded. The thought went through my head that it was a waste to throw the books away... that I should keep them until I could give them away. I grabbed the trash can anyway, knowing that if I delayed, I wouldn't give them away. It took a couple of trips of dumping the small, inside trash can into the big ones outside. When I would encounter a book that I had loved, but knew it wouldn't meet God's standards, I tossed it and pushed down the bittersweet feelings of losing old friends.
I don't miss them. I thought I would. The next day I went to the library. I walked over to the Christian section that our library has and scanned the books. I read the back cover of some. I prayed for God to lead me to books that He would want me to read, stories and novels that would glorify Him. Sure enough... He did.
God has used many Christian authors to bless me and feed into my life. Terri Blackstock, Karen Kingsbury, and Randy Alcorn quickly became favorites. I devoured all the Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins books, from the Left Behind novels to their other works. When God led me to homeschooling, I got to read lots of other little books, ones that were readers for my children, that were so amazing. When the characters in the books talk about God, apply the Bible to their situations in the stories, and pray, these things sink in just as deep in me as the "other" stuff did, perhaps more so because the Word of God is alive.
I am still a person that would rather read than watch TV. After the last several years of following after Christ, I have realized more and more just how detrimental all those old books were. Those words, those characters, that were everything but God-honoring, truly were a part of me. It took a lot of years to diminish their impact in my mind and heart. I realize just how sensitive I am to the influence of what I put in my mind and heart. If I read a book where a character is angry, or even just watch a tv show with an angry character, I am much more likely to be angry.
What we put in our minds touches everything else. I believe that we take in deeply what we read and watch in tv shows and movies. Even the people we are around can influence our thoughts and eventually our feelings. In our culture, even Christians tend to think it is no big deal to watch that movie because "it isn't too bad" or read that book because "it's not real". I have seen it happen, and I think it is a lie from the pit of hell.
Since I know just how deeply this type of thing can impact a person's thinking and heart, I have tried to be careful even with what my children read and watch. I want them to have good things in their hearts and minds. The ungodly and fleshly surround us. It's everywhere we look. I don't believe that a touch of the ungodly acts as an immunization against other ungodly materials. On the contrary, I believe that if we feed our fleshly appetites, we will crave more. I know this to be true because I've lived it.
That doesn't mean that any secular material is bad. It just means that I choose to be discerning, for myself and for my children. I choose to find books that honor God. If that educational cartoon suddenly has witches in it, I change the channel. That isn't the type of education I want for my children.
In the homeschool world we have a term called "twaddle". Twaddle is a term coined by educator Charlotte Mason which she used to describe books for children that had no educational value, that were just empty entertainment. While I agree with her, I also believe "twaddle" is materials that not only have no value educationally, but could be harmful to the soul. I think that, as Christians, we are to search our hearts and souls about all the "twaddle" around us, and ask if we truly want those images or words in our brains.
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