Is it really this hard?

[Gell]

Every person has his/her own preference. But not all things are helpful 1 Corinthians 10:23

 

[paul1149]

As well as the fact that you cannot make an unclean thing clean, or step in any on else's world of sin to then tell them what they are doing is wrong.

As for all the strict rules, "the kingdom of God is not food or drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit". We are called to be set apart, but that does not translate into an overbearing list of rules and regulations. We are called to peace, and to rest (Mt 11.28-30). It's primarily about Jesus. The separation comes as a result of that, and is more spiritual than of the flesh. In 1Cor 5, Paul tells us we would have to leave the world if we were to avoid all pollution. And that obviously is not God's will.

As for making what is unclean, clean, Jesus did it all the time, with a mere touch of His hand, or just a word. He stills does it today, and we are called to do the same. That doesn't mean we immerse ourselves in the world's sin, but we are God's ambassadors, speaking and living the Word, rescuing others from their lostness.

 

[Celticroots]

If you remove things from your life for the wrong reason, eventually you will come to resent their removal and you'll begin to compromise on doing so. This often leads to hypocrisy, and legalism, and a generally frustrated and unhappy life as a Christian.

I used to practice a martial art. I taught it, in fact, for nearly thirty years (my body has paid a price for my hard training and I can't do it any more). The training was often painful and exhausting; it cost me a lot of time and money; I had to sacrifice many occasions with friends and family to do it; my social life was very narrow; my body got injured. Why in the world would anyone do this to themselves? My family would often ask me this. The answer: Love. I loved the martial training; I loved the japanese martial art culture; I loved the skills I developed. I can tell you that no other motive would have induced me to suffer, and strain, and work like I did as a martial artist.

So, why am I telling you this? Well, there's a direct parallel, I think, between my motive for doing martial arts and my motive for walking with God. The only thing that will make the sacrifices you must make to walk with God worthwhile is love. It is the only thing powerful enough to move you into the life of self-denial and sacrifice that is the Christian life. And this is why Jesus said,

Matthew 22:37-38
37 ..."'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'
38 This is the first and great commandment.

Everything you do as a believer is supposed to begin with love. Love for God, radical, whole-hearted love for Him, is the ground out of which all the rest of the Christian life is supposed to be lived. When it isn't, being a Christian quickly becomes a burden rather than a joy, an onerous duty rather than a blessing. Believers who are motivated into walking with God from fear, or obligation, or self-righteousness, or tradition, or any other motive that isn't love, begin to see God, not as a loving, gentle, patient Heavenly Father but as a wrathful, bossy, and dangerous Warden of the prison of Christian living. And just like prisoners who try to get away with as much as they can when the Warden's back is turned, Christians who aren't loving God with all of their being begin to compromise and secretly indulge in things they know they shouldn't. They become guilty, resentful and hypocritical and, because living like this sucks, in time they drift entirely out of fellowship with God.

Begin with learning to love God deeply and the rest of the Christian life falls into place.

Agreed. There’s also research that shows that how you view God can positively or negatively affect your mental health.

 

[Celticroots]

Every person has his/her own preference. But not all things are helpful 1 Corinthians 10:23

I am fine with my preference. My relationship with God is strong.

 

[Chinchilla]

Hello everyone.

I occasionally wonder about how far I've come since I started walking seriously with God. So many things changed for the better, and i'm extremely grateful for this.
However, I have a pretty strict pastor, he's my role model, and everything he believes is right and wrong he can always backs it up with the Bible as it should be.

That being said I've reached a point in my life where i gave up so much things of the world, now its down to barely a few and I'm finding it getting harder and harder to give them up.

For example, my pastor would not agree with any kind of hip hop / rap associated Gospel because this genre actually started as its own religion believe it or not. As well as the fact that you cannot make an unclean thing clean, or step in any on else's world of sin to then tell them what they are doing is wrong. Christian artists are heavily involved with the other artists of the world but as the bible would say,we must shun the appearance of sin, stay away from liars etc etc... My favorite artist was Trip lee, but I've stopped listening due to the above reasons.

Another thing is giving up shows that i still revisit. Eg. Dragonball z / s. I get convictions because the name in itself contains ' Dragon ' which is a beast always mentioned negatively in the bible and obviously one born of the devil. As well as the fact that the male characters occasionally wear earrings, lol. I can't even listen to its soundtracks while working out.

I can't go the the movies because they are guaranteed have nothing to do with God, can't play no games for example my all time favorite, the god of war series. It feels like i can barely breathe sometimes without being convicted with good reasoning. Every corner i turn something fun to do is bad because x y and z.

Edit : Youtube and Facebook are the worst because I can't read comments or go through my news feed without seeing some trash that invades my mind and messes up my constant prayer / God conscious mindset.

The only scriptures that I can relate are all that supports being separate from the world and its trends. And : " Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself? " .. which i don't quite understand either.


Any help / opinions are welcomed, thanks.

Make youtube channel then set it to some strange country and strange language you have no idea about .
Then you go to youtube history and delete your youtube browsing history plus stop it from rememebering your history , then you click on your yutube home page few times and every time you delete the recommendet channels with X . You will do that 4-5 times and every time you open your youtube next time there will be empty page without trash just plain search bar and that's all.

As additional perk you can restrict your channel from any 16+ year old content I believe .

 

[Devin P]

Hello everyone.

I occasionally wonder about how far I've come since I started walking seriously with God. So many things changed for the better, and i'm extremely grateful for this.
However, I have a pretty strict pastor, he's my role model, and everything he believes is right and wrong he can always backs it up with the Bible as it should be.

That being said I've reached a point in my life where i gave up so much things of the world, now its down to barely a few and I'm finding it getting harder and harder to give them up.

For example, my pastor would not agree with any kind of hip hop / rap associated Gospel because this genre actually started as its own religion believe it or not. As well as the fact that you cannot make an unclean thing clean, or step in any on else's world of sin to then tell them what they are doing is wrong. Christian artists are heavily involved with the other artists of the world but as the bible would say,we must shun the appearance of sin, stay away from liars etc etc... My favorite artist was Trip lee, but I've stopped listening due to the above reasons.

Another thing is giving up shows that i still revisit. Eg. Dragonball z / s. I get convictions because the name in itself contains ' Dragon ' which is a beast always mentioned negatively in the bible and obviously one born of the devil. As well as the fact that the male characters occasionally wear earrings, lol. I can't even listen to its soundtracks while working out.

I can't go the the movies because they are guaranteed have nothing to do with God, can't play no games for example my all time favorite, the god of war series. It feels like i can barely breathe sometimes without being convicted with good reasoning. Every corner i turn something fun to do is bad because x y and z.

Edit : Youtube and Facebook are the worst because I can't read comments or go through my news feed without seeing some trash that invades my mind and messes up my constant prayer / God conscious mindset.

The only scriptures that I can relate are all that supports being separate from the world and its trends. And : " Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself? " .. which i don't quite understand either.


Any help / opinions are welcomed, thanks.

Well look, I was avoiding and worried about all of the above things as well. I was in the same boat, in the same stage of my walk. One day I'd feel right, then the next I'd be worried I was condemned and that I was constantly walking against Him, but we don't have to be that way brother.

There is a way we can know whether or not we're walking in accordance with His will, always. We have to read the first five books, because in them, He spells out what He likes, and what He doesn't, and in them, we will find our freedom. With Jesus, the knowledge they give us, can be fulfilled. Together, the first five books, perfected and combined with Jesus, you will never be steered wrong. I would start reading from genesis when you have the time, and read all the way through deuteronomy, and then all the way to revelations.

Also, if the rap is Godly, and talks about worship, and is gospel rap, there's nothing wrong with it. It's worship music at that point. I would probably avoid dragon ball z, it's something I gave up as well, mainly because of the violence. It's a beautiful thing that you feel led by His Spirit to give up things that aren't of Him, I wish you the best. Pray that He shows you the path of truth, and righteousness, and that He shows you His Face, and pray each and every time before you read for guidance and revelation, and you'll grow a lot.

 

[Dave G.]

I don't see anything wrong with secular music unless it endorses something blatantly disgusting, the band Disturbed comes to mind there. There's lots of great genres. Country, classical, Pop, Rock, Celtic. When I hear a song that speaks to me, or that' has gotten me through a difficult time, I thank God for the artist who wrote the song.

I like Christian music also but couldn't listen to it 24/7.

I studied classical music for piano for a few years, some of it is secular and some is not. Many classics are Masses actually ( think Schumann, Hayden, Bach, Mozart, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Clemente and more ) . Anyway I have to edit my dislike for secular music to move classical to my like list LOL !

 

[Jack L Palmer]

I don't know, man. I think you're going a bit overboard. I mean, you can try pushing that kind of logic on to all sorts of things. Is my car manufactured by a Christian company? Is my landlord a Christian? Is the company I'm working for Christian (full disclosure: 2 out of 3 of those questions would be 'no.') It's not about isolating yourself with only Christian products. It's about your mind and your soul. If those things are going to tear you away from God - mean, yeah. Then get rid of it. But listening to some non-Christian isn't likely to do that.

 

[Apologetic_Warrior]

Hello everyone.

I occasionally wonder about how far I've come since I started walking seriously with God. So many things changed for the better, and i'm extremely grateful for this.
However, I have a pretty strict pastor, he's my role model, and everything he believes is right and wrong he can always backs it up with the Bible as it should be.

That being said I've reached a point in my life where i gave up so much things of the world, now its down to barely a few and I'm finding it getting harder and harder to give them up.

For example, my pastor would not agree with any kind of hip hop / rap associated Gospel because this genre actually started as its own religion believe it or not. As well as the fact that you cannot make an unclean thing clean, or step in any on else's world of sin to then tell them what they are doing is wrong. Christian artists are heavily involved with the other artists of the world but as the bible would say,we must shun the appearance of sin, stay away from liars etc etc... My favorite artist was Trip lee, but I've stopped listening due to the above reasons.

Another thing is giving up shows that i still revisit. Eg. Dragonball z / s. I get convictions because the name in itself contains ' Dragon ' which is a beast always mentioned negatively in the bible and obviously one born of the devil. As well as the fact that the male characters occasionally wear earrings, lol. I can't even listen to its soundtracks while working out.

I can't go the the movies because they are guaranteed have nothing to do with God, can't play no games for example my all time favorite, the god of war series. It feels like i can barely breathe sometimes without being convicted with good reasoning. Every corner i turn something fun to do is bad because x y and z.

Edit : Youtube and Facebook are the worst because I can't read comments or go through my news feed without seeing some trash that invades my mind and messes up my constant prayer / God conscious mindset.

The only scriptures that I can relate are all that supports being separate from the world and its trends. And : " Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself? " .. which i don't quite understand either.


Any help / opinions are welcomed, thanks.

Grow a beard, learn ye old English, and join the Amish, problem solved?

 

[LovesOurLord]

Paul wrote that to the clean all things are clean. I would recommend that instead of just doing what your pastor says, consider his counsel, but learn to judge for yourself. I would recommend studying the lyrics to those songs apart from the music. Then let the holy spirit witness to you if those lyrics are godly or not. Based on that decide if you still want to listen to it.

Yep that's what I do. There are some songs, music videos, and movies I quit watching due to it.

 

[Tree of Life]

Hello everyone.

I occasionally wonder about how far I've come since I started walking seriously with God. So many things changed for the better, and i'm extremely grateful for this.
However, I have a pretty strict pastor, he's my role model, and everything he believes is right and wrong he can always backs it up with the Bible as it should be.

That being said I've reached a point in my life where i gave up so much things of the world, now its down to barely a few and I'm finding it getting harder and harder to give them up.

For example, my pastor would not agree with any kind of hip hop / rap associated Gospel because this genre actually started as its own religion believe it or not. As well as the fact that you cannot make an unclean thing clean, or step in any on else's world of sin to then tell them what they are doing is wrong. Christian artists are heavily involved with the other artists of the world but as the bible would say,we must shun the appearance of sin, stay away from liars etc etc... My favorite artist was Trip lee, but I've stopped listening due to the above reasons.

Another thing is giving up shows that i still revisit. Eg. Dragonball z / s. I get convictions because the name in itself contains ' Dragon ' which is a beast always mentioned negatively in the bible and obviously one born of the devil. As well as the fact that the male characters occasionally wear earrings, lol. I can't even listen to its soundtracks while working out.

I can't go the the movies because they are guaranteed have nothing to do with God, can't play no games for example my all time favorite, the god of war series. It feels like i can barely breathe sometimes without being convicted with good reasoning. Every corner i turn something fun to do is bad because x y and z.

Edit : Youtube and Facebook are the worst because I can't read comments or go through my news feed without seeing some trash that invades my mind and messes up my constant prayer / God conscious mindset.

The only scriptures that I can relate are all that supports being separate from the world and its trends. And : " Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself? " .. which i don't quite understand either.


Any help / opinions are welcomed, thanks.

I think you're headed for a spiritual crisis. Then hopefully a maturing and spiritual renewal.

 

[Blade]

This walk.. this path is not you and your pastor or wife or best friend or kids.. or us here. We work out our own salvation. What you need to do is seek HIM.. He is.. REALLY REALLY REALLY REAL! He will TALK TO YOU! He NEVER condemns never judges you. He will tell you show you what you should and should not do..but ONLY ONLY if YOU want to stop it..

Your free. When HE tells you...you get a peace about it.. never fear worry doubt ..but joy happiness. The hard part is when we still want to hold onto it. Not many.. and I mean not many understand when Paul said.. I can do all things. What is sin for me.. or your pastor may not be sin for you..

For ME anything that puts its self above Christ is not of Him and I should not do it.. ME as in reading walking talking you name it. YET..still play some computer games ..things like this.. Yet I am ON that path where ALL of this will fall away.. for what HE started HE will finish..

And no.. its not hard.. its hard when we want to hold on to things.. YOU ASKED.. LIVE LIFE! Go have fun.. as long as your heart is 100% for HIM..and you let Him know if there is ANYTHING in your life.. HE does not want. HIM..HIM HIM.. then relax.. I do not listen to pop music.. only Christian.. so what? Does this make me better? NO.. one has life in it the other dose not..for ME.. my sons dont listen to Christian music. There not mine.. I gave them to HIM .. so I trust HIM.. He can handle what I cant..

So go live life.. not what some man says. The pastor bless him in JESUS name. Is still a man.. walking this path. Just make sure what ANYONE says.. is written. And read about the FRUITS of the spirit. THATS how God moves. He always will give you a peace..never fear worry doubt.. He always backs it up by His word..

He is SO IN LOVE WITH YOU. HE said to YOU. Dude.. I came to give you LIFE! And give it to you more abundantly.. and MY JOY is YOUR strength.. ISA 41:10..read it.. and He told YOU. Come on..keep your eyes on Me (Father) and I will KEEP YOU in perfect peace!

 

[Ronald]

Hello everyone.

I occasionally wonder about how far I've come since I started walking seriously with God. So many things changed for the better, and i'm extremely grateful for this.
However, I have a pretty strict pastor, he's my role model, and everything he believes is right and wrong he can always backs it up with the Bible as it should be.

That being said I've reached a point in my life where i gave up so much things of the world, now its down to barely a few and I'm finding it getting harder and harder to give them up.

For example, my pastor would not agree with any kind of hip hop / rap associated Gospel because this genre actually started as its own religion believe it or not. As well as the fact that you cannot make an unclean thing clean, or step in any on else's world of sin to then tell them what they are doing is wrong. Christian artists are heavily involved with the other artists of the world but as the bible would say,we must shun the appearance of sin, stay away from liars etc etc... My favorite artist was Trip lee, but I've stopped listening due to the above reasons.

Another thing is giving up shows that i still revisit. Eg. Dragonball z / s. I get convictions because the name in itself contains ' Dragon ' which is a beast always mentioned negatively in the bible and obviously one born of the devil. As well as the fact that the male characters occasionally wear earrings, lol. I can't even listen to its soundtracks while working out.

I can't go the the movies because they are guaranteed have nothing to do with God, can't play no games for example my all time favorite, the god of war series. It feels like i can barely breathe sometimes without being convicted with good reasoning. Every corner i turn something fun to do is bad because x y and z.

Edit : Youtube and Facebook are the worst because I can't read comments or go through my news feed without seeing some trash that invades my mind and messes up my constant prayer / God conscious mindset.

The only scriptures that I can relate are all that supports being separate from the world and its trends. And : " Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself? " .. which i don't quite understand either.


Any help / opinions are welcomed, thanks.

First off, God is not a cosmic killjoy. He wants us to live life in the full. But full of the right stuff. Joy comes from God and the closer we get to Him, the more our life is fulfilled. We are told to focus on things above, eternal, not temporal things. Temporal things, pleasures, come and go. Yes, live a clean life. My wife and I watch movies but stick to PG13 of which some of that is becoming bad. It seems as though they are lowering the bar every decade. Society has become more callous about immorality and so here we are, tainted and lured into all sorts of worldly things.

Check out this article: God seems like a cosmic killjoy; is He?

For perspective, also keep these scripture in mind: "All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful, all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify. Let no one seek his own, but each one the other's well-being." 1 Cor. 10:23, 24

"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:" Matt. 10:19, 20
The happiest people are the givers, the unselfish ones who concern themselves about other's needs. This is not giving up everything and becoming some monk who denies all material things and pleasures. Your Pastor is strict. Be cautious with some, who are stuck in legalism. Those who live by the Law, will be judged by the Law. We live in the Spirit and that can be a joyful, exciting and most of all loving life.

 

[crystalcrane21]

The church doesn't force anyone but these are the guides we follow, this is how my pastor would think and teach us, he's not a bully. We don't believe in living 50%, or being lukewarm as the bible says, its either you are all in, or all out when it comes to God, against or with, and if you are with, you must obey the word in its entirety and completely separate yourself from everything not of God. No compromising.
I know no one becomes perfect in a day, but you seem like you might be too laid back or unwilling to go deeper than just obeying the 10 commandments. Christians today just go to church, read a chapter a day and see themselves righteous in their own eyes. I know for a fact if Jesus came back today he isn't watching a single modern day movie for you know what reasons
The 1st response pretty much answered my whole post lol. But being 20 years of age and transitioning from secular to spiritual at a fast rate is not easy. That's why i just felt like making a post to let it out and hear opinions. In time i might find the right hobbies to replace the previous ones.

I agree. The people who are like, "Aaahh! That's legalism!", though often well-meaning, miss the fact that a lot of things in this world that are seen as "normal", even by many Christians, do not glorify God. I used to feel JUST like you said in your first post. I was overwhelmed with feeling like I can't do this, I can't do that, like all the fun was sucked out of my life. I felt resentful of God and fearful because I wasn't giving things up enough. And then slowly and mysteriously, it started to change. I started to really see the evil in all of the things I used to do / was still doing a little. I started to actually hate them and not enjoy them anymore at all. I found different hobbies and interests that were God-glorifying and that actually gave me MORE life and MORE joy and filled up my time more than before. It takes time, it takes growing daily in a personal relationship with God. It is not legalism or God being a killjoy because you will find life at the end. "Whoever loses their life for my sake will find it. Whoever seeks to keep their life will lose it." You will get there because your heart is in the right place. Don't listen to haters. Keep your eyes, mind and heart on the Lord. Let him lead you into deeper discernment and spiritual maturity. Your reward is from Him.

 

[DaishinKan]

Thanks for everyone's responses, they are really helpful and encouraging.

 

[LovesOurLord]

Thanks for everyone's responses, they are really helpful and encouraging.

Just remember that humans are fallible and the only thing we have that's infallible is the Word itself. There's nothing wrong with playing games. It's a matter of where your heart is. You can play games while your heart is with God. I do it all the time. Same with music or whatever.

 

[GraceBro]

Hello everyone.

I occasionally wonder about how far I've come since I started walking seriously with God. So many things changed for the better, and i'm extremely grateful for this.
However, I have a pretty strict pastor, he's my role model, and everything he believes is right and wrong he can always backs it up with the Bible as it should be.

That being said I've reached a point in my life where i gave up so much things of the world, now its down to barely a few and I'm finding it getting harder and harder to give them up.

For example, my pastor would not agree with any kind of hip hop / rap associated Gospel because this genre actually started as its own religion believe it or not. As well as the fact that you cannot make an unclean thing clean, or step in any on else's world of sin to then tell them what they are doing is wrong. Christian artists are heavily involved with the other artists of the world but as the bible would say,we must shun the appearance of sin, stay away from liars etc etc... My favorite artist was Trip lee, but I've stopped listening due to the above reasons.

Another thing is giving up shows that i still revisit. Eg. Dragonball z / s. I get convictions because the name in itself contains ' Dragon ' which is a beast always mentioned negatively in the bible and obviously one born of the devil. As well as the fact that the male characters occasionally wear earrings, lol. I can't even listen to its soundtracks while working out.

I can't go the the movies because they are guaranteed have nothing to do with God, can't play no games for example my all time favorite, the god of war series. It feels like i can barely breathe sometimes without being convicted with good reasoning. Every corner i turn something fun to do is bad because x y and z.

Edit : Youtube and Facebook are the worst because I can't read comments or go through my news feed without seeing some trash that invades my mind and messes up my constant prayer / God conscious mindset.

The only scriptures that I can relate are all that supports being separate from the world and its trends. And : " Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself? " .. which i don't quite understand either.


Any help / opinions are welcomed, thanks.

The goal of the Christian life is not to stop sinning. The goal of the Christian life is to learn to trust in and depend on God through His indwelling Spirit. No matter how many victories you have over sins in your life, you will never overcome them all. In fact, the more you try to rid them from your life, the more you will be mastered by them. The Bible says the "power of sin is the law (1 Corinthians 15:56)." There is nothing good about sin, but if you want to truly see growth in your walk, you must come to believe that God is not counting them against you (2 Corinthians 5:19). This doesn't mean sin is okay, but that rather that you can now approach God with confidence (Hebrews 4:16) to see why you are not trusting Him in certain areas of your life. As you grow in your knowledge of who you are in Him through faith in Jesus, the sins you struggle with will begin to diminish as a byproduct of knowing your God. God will change your desire. You will discover that you don't want to engage in the things you struggle with rather than trying to avoid them simply because you believe they are wrong. One is living by the spirit. The other is living by the flesh. The flesh does not improve, but God will begin to replace the desires of the flesh with His love, acceptance, meaning, and purpose to your life as you grow in grace. Grace and Peace.

 

[Daniel9v9]

There's a lot I could say on this subject, but the things you've highlighted - at least to my ears - sound rather burdensome, approaching something akin to extreme Pietism/Puritanism, which in and of itself ironically can distract from the true Gospel; which is a matter of grace, not personal sacrifice and work.

It is true that we are bought at a price, and as such we are always on God's time. This is good to be mindful of, so we don't fall into unfruitful and unholy living. Even so, it is Christ that makes us stand. If we were to start avoiding everything which is un-Christian, the next step is really monasticism or Mennonite ideals, or even as 1 Corinthians 5:10 explains, leaving this world altogether.

Put short, simply avoid anything that causes you to sin. If it doesn't, don't be burdened with it - but be thankful for God's provision and grace

 

[dysert]

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
1 Peter 5:8 KJV
In other words he Is actually around every tree lol

Actually, no. Satan and his buddies are like roaring lions, but they're not omnipresent so they can only be one place at a time.

 

[AlexDTX]

Hello everyone.

I occasionally wonder about how far I've come since I started walking seriously with God. So many things changed for the better, and i'm extremely grateful for this.
However, I have a pretty strict pastor, he's my role model, and everything he believes is right and wrong he can always backs it up with the Bible as it should be.

That being said I've reached a point in my life where i gave up so much things of the world, now its down to barely a few and I'm finding it getting harder and harder to give them up.

For example, my pastor would not agree with any kind of hip hop / rap associated Gospel because this genre actually started as its own religion believe it or not. As well as the fact that you cannot make an unclean thing clean, or step in any on else's world of sin to then tell them what they are doing is wrong. Christian artists are heavily involved with the other artists of the world but as the bible would say,we must shun the appearance of sin, stay away from liars etc etc... My favorite artist was Trip lee, but I've stopped listening due to the above reasons.

Another thing is giving up shows that i still revisit. Eg. Dragonball z / s. I get convictions because the name in itself contains ' Dragon ' which is a beast always mentioned negatively in the bible and obviously one born of the devil. As well as the fact that the male characters occasionally wear earrings, lol. I can't even listen to its soundtracks while working out.

I can't go the the movies because they are guaranteed have nothing to do with God, can't play no games for example my all time favorite, the god of war series. It feels like i can barely breathe sometimes without being convicted with good reasoning. Every corner i turn something fun to do is bad because x y and z.

Edit : Youtube and Facebook are the worst because I can't read comments or go through my news feed without seeing some trash that invades my mind and messes up my constant prayer / God conscious mindset.

The only scriptures that I can relate are all that supports being separate from the world and its trends. And : " Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself? " .. which i don't quite understand either.


Any help / opinions are welcomed, thanks.

Sounds like your pastor lives by the law and not grace. The law is wise and right, but impossible to keep. Grace is a leading of the Spirit that deals with one thing at a time in our lives to make learning to do what is right more manageable. When you live by the Spirit and not the law, the things that the law tells us not to do, fall away naturally by the Spirit so that no desire to do those things even remain. But this is a process of time called sanctification and does not happen overnight. There are some things that God's deliverance can make happen overnight,, but many things are complicated knots in our heart that takes the Lord time to untie.