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Soon to a Theater Near You: Valentine’s Day (Guest Blog by Keli Myers)

With Valentine’s Day swiftly approaching, many of you are probably experiencing a stronger desire for that special someone to come along. If you are anything like I was, you end up being pretty dissatisfied with your singleness during the month of February. Everywhere you go you’re faced with cupids and hearts and chocolates and love songs! Then, when you sit down to watch TV at night, you’re met with an endless stream of romantic comedies, dating service ads, and specials on the exciting world of love and romance. So, with no man in sight you might as well live vicariously through these Valentine’s Day love stories, right?

Well, not so fast. Before you over-indulge on the entertainment world’s view of love and romance, think about the effect that it has on your contentment with the place in life that the Lord currently has you in. Do you find that it steals your joy and peace, taking your focus off of Jesus?

Next, think about the way that your media diet can rule your emotions, your desires, and your view of love. Do you find that you feel more desperate to have a man in your life after watching that new romantic comedy?

Finally, think about the messages on love and romance that the entertainment media send us. More often than not, the media’s picture of love is very different than the Lord’s. In the media, matches are often made on the basis of physical attraction alone and romances aren’t slow-roasted at a healthy pace, they are developed at microwave speed! Also, how many couples are shown actually waiting to have sex until they’re married on television? I can’t think of any, can you? Instead, we often see characters having sex on their first date. And even though we may personally disagree with that behavior, knowing that it’s sinful, we watch and enjoy it. We feed on shows like Gossip Girl, The Bachelor, and Sex and the City, and then we wonder why we struggle with dissatisfaction with our single status or even maintaining physical boundaries in our own dating lives.

Why don’t you take some time to meditate on the following proverbs from God’s word and think about what you watch and listen to during this season of cupids and cards?

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

Proverbs 4:23

Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.

– Proverbs 13:20

Desire without knowledge is not good – how much more will hasty feet miss the way!

– Proverbs 19:2

Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always be zealous for the fear of the Lord. There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.

– Proverbs 23:17 & 18

I’ll be back soon to share the facts about what the research has to say on the influence that the media has on our view of dating relationships and sex!

Your sister in Christ,

Keli Myers

Keli Myers is a professor at Pepperdine University where she teaches communication classes and studies the influence that the media can have on people’s lives. She has a passion for helping people to see that Christ has come to give them “life to the full” (John 10:10). Keli is also a newlywed who is convinced that the Lord has brought her “the most amazing, adorable, handsome Englishman in the whole, wide world!”. :-)

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