Ask a fisherman to give up fishing, or someone who likes novels give up reading.
I am both an avid fisherman and reader. And I have given up both as its been necessary in order to walk with God and serve Him well. In particular, I love to read. But the high fantasy genre which I most enjoy has degenerated badly, filled now with demonism, anti-heroes, hyper-violence, nihilism, anti-theism and sexual perversion. Just consider Game of Thrones. Yikes. I've literally read many hundreds of fantasy novels over the years. Andre Norton, Piers Anthony, Stephen R. Donaldson, Tolkien (of course), C.S. Lewis, Robert Jordan, Terry Brooks, Tad Williams, Guy Gavriel Kay, James Islington, Adrian Tchaikovsky, David Gemmel - the list of fantasy novelists I've read goes on, and on. So, I know very well what it is to give up reading. Twenty years ago, I used to read two fantasy novels a week (or more, if they were shorter in length) but now I may read one novel every six months (or less). But I don't bite my nails and groan over giving up my very favorite pastime for the sake of honoring God. He's worth it, compensating me for the things I must give up for His sake, in the fulfillment and joy I find in walking with and serving Him.
My brother is a far more avid fisherman than I, buying a truck to pull his bass boat to the many lakes in our province that are full of fish. He's a bit of a madman when it comes to fishing. But, only when it doesn't interfere with his walk with God. His boat sat idle all of last year, as he grew busy in his work as a pastor, ministering to the families under his spiritual care. I heard not a single complaint from him about being unable to fish. Instead, he enthuses about the work of God in the lives of the people of his congregation.
So, no, it is not the case that those who love to read or fish are necessarily bound under the power of these pastimes, unable to give them up easily for the sake of knowing and walking with Christ better.
Reaction to losing your hobbies is not an indication of addiction.
It most certainly is. The sort of trouble the OP is having with forsaking gaming is a testament to how deeply gaming had its hooks into him. His reaction to not gaming is very much indicative of an addiction to gaming.
It is an indication that you really enjoyed what you were doing. Just because gaming is more addictive than fishing or reading is irrelevant.
??? Obviously, a person addicted to gaming is so, in part, because they "really enjoy what they're doing." I really enjoy a good fantasy novel. But I have ceased to read them almost entirely now without any of the torment the OP is suffering over giving up gaming. And this is how one can tell that one is beyond merely really enjoying a thing and now in bondage to it.
And it is not, I think, at all irrelevant to the OPs situation that gaming is highly addictive. As far as I'm concerned, this fact is all the more reason for the OP to avoid gaming; for he has shown that the addictiveness of gaming is not something he can properly resist.
But is it bondage? It really depends on the perspective.
This is just moral subjectivism, a worldly philosophy no Christian should espouse. The OP has written in the past of his gaming regimen and it is objectively at an addiction level, consuming him in various ways.
How does the idea of addiction have any legitimacy if addiction is purely a matter of perspective? Is the man whose life has collapsed under alcoholism, leaving him at every moment of every day searching for the means to drink more alcohol, only addicted if he thinks he is? Even though this man has lost his job because of his alcoholism, and emptied his bank account in order to drink, and alienated his entire family with his drunkenness, does he only have a problem, is he only addicted, when
he decides he is?
What if the man finally decides he's addicted to alcohol and goes to a therapist for help and the therapist refuses to accept that the man's addicted? What if the therapist said to the alcoholic, "You're only addicted to alcohol if I think you are"? Is this reasonable? If the drunk's life is radically ordered under his desire to consume alcohol, his drinking destructively pushing all else to the margins of his existence, is it rational for the therapist to make a diagnosis of alcoholism merely a matter of
his own personal perspective? Maybe the therapist has a different standard for alcoholism than the drunk does. Maybe the therapist prefers to diagnose alcoholism only when a person's drinking has nearly killed them three times, putting them in an ICU ward for at least a week in each instance. Would this be reasonable? If it's up to the individual to decide what does and doesn't constitute addiction, why wouldn't it be?
This morally-subjectivist thinking, of course, means that no one can ever say of the next person that they are addicted to anything. No heroin abuser, ruined by their addiction, emaciated and deranged by their use of heroin is addicted - except if they say they are. No inappropriate content addict, staring at inappropriate content for hours a day, obsessed with increasingly violent and perverse sexual images, looking at every woman as an object of their inflamed lust, is addicted to inappropriate content until they say they are. Really? I don't know about you, but this is vile, deeply foolish and utterly unbiblical thinking. Which is why you find moral subjectivism only promoted in the World, never in the Bible.
I guess this is a statement aimed at me. I have always played computer games since I was a youth. I enjoy it, it is what I do for relaxation, outside of meaningful prayer.
I suspected as much. The guilty flee when no man pursues.
It troubled me because the OP is obviously wanting to be able to game. It is not a sin to do so.
It is if he has demonstrated that he cannot do so without coming into bondage to gaming. Would you recommend an alcoholic hang out with his friends at the bar? Would you think it all right for a inappropriate content addict to spend a day at the beach where woman walk about in next to nothing? Would you encourage a person with a demonstrated controlling weakness to provoke that weakness? This is, essentially, what you are encouraging the OP to do with gaming.
Romans 13:12-14
12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.
1 Corinthians 6:12
12 All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.
1 Corinthians 10:21-23
21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: you cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils.
22 Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he?
23 All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.
The OP has recognized that his gaming is out of order, excessive, competing with his relationship with God and as such is not right. Is it the Spirit in him that moves the OP to gaming inordinately? No, it is his own flesh, Self, not the Spirit, that leads the OP into gaming. Well, as the verse above indicates, he is not to make any provision for his flesh to overtake him as it does through gaming.
Is the OP thoroughly in control of his gaming? No. It's why he's taken time away from gaming. We should all be encouraging him to live free of the power of all things that would bind him in their power, as the verse above enjoins the OP (and you and I) to do.
Is gaming a sin in-and-of itself? Depends on the game. Is the OP edified in his walk with the Lord by gaming? Does his game play stimulate a holier, more Christ-centered life? After five hours of gameplay is the OP more like Jesus? Gaming may not itself be evil, but if it doesn't spiritually edify the OP, it isn't something a fellow believer should encourage the OP to invest in. See the verse above.
Right now, there needs to be the knowledge that God will not be hard on him for his choice.
Baloney. There is very good reason for the OP to consider the spiritual dangers of his out-of-control gameplay. And those who truly wish the OP well, who desire to see him walking deeply with God, ought to be helping him to do so, in part, by not encouraging him back into the bondage of gaming. As God warns us in His word, if we sow to our flesh we shall of the flesh reap corruption. If we allow things in our lives to eclipse our walk with God, to dominate our time and distract us from God, we will suffer harm spiritually as a result. It is not unkind to point this out to the OP, but the exact opposite! If I care about a person, warning them of potential harm is an obligation I take on in expression of that care.
No it is not. Everyone must walk their own path with God, the path they feel blessed on. To have others point out their so-called sins, is not helpful.
??? Are you serious? Have you read the Bible? This is the exact opposite of the repeated command and example of God's word.
Proverbs 27:17
17 Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.
Psalm 50:16-21
16 But to the wicked God says: “What right have you to recite my statutes or take my covenant on your lips?
17 For you hate discipline, and you cast my words behind you.
18 If you see a thief, you are pleased with him, and you keep company with adulterers.
19 “You give your mouth free rein for evil, and your tongue frames deceit.
20 You sit and speak against your brother; you slander your own mother’s son.
21 These things you have done, and I have been silent; you thought that I was one like yourself. But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you.
Psalm 119:21
21 You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones, who wander from your commandments.
Proverbs 24:24-25
24 Whoever says to the wicked, “You are in the right,” will be cursed by peoples, abhorred by nations,
25 but those who rebuke the wicked will have delight, and a good blessing will come upon them.
Proverbs 27:5
5 Better is open rebuke than hidden love.
Ecclesiastes 7:4-5
4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
5 It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise than to hear the song of fools.
2 Timothy 4:2
2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.
Titus 1:9
9 He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.
Revelation 3:19
19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
(See also:
1 Corinthians 3; 5, 6, 11; Galatians 3; Jude, etc.)
I have a family, 80% of my life is lived working, and providing for the needs and comfort of my family. Much of the church is in the same situation, we are not all called like Paul to give up everything for the sake of the gospel.
No one is saying that you, or the OP, must live the life of the apostle Paul.
Self-denial is not a sign of righteousness, living for God the best we can in our situation is.
Matthew 16:24-26
24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
John 12:24-25
24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abides alone: but if it dies, it brings forth much fruit.
25 He who loves his life shall lose it; and he who hates his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.
Titus 2:11-14
11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men,
12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
I feel 100% comfortable, and safe in my relationship with the LORD.
This has nothing whatever to do with whether or not you're actually walking rightly with Him. Your feelings do not determine the rightness of your relationship to God. Many are the wicked who are utterly at ease in their sin.
I know that he knows my heart, and if He needs to he will work on areas that are lacking.
Not apart from your active agreement and participation, He won't. You aren't a puppet.
But for me as a working family man, there is no point in living the life of a monk, I don't need to listen to Hillsong all day long, or read the bible all day long, nor pray for every minute.
Why is this Strawman stuff always the go-to distortion of a holy, Christ-centered life? Do you know what a false dichotomy is? You've made one right here.
There is nothing to fear, in enjoying life. Solomon in all his wisdom commended this very fact.
??? Who said there was? I didn't.
We have labour, but mirth helps us forget the burden of life. It is a gift of God. Pray, righteousness, and serving God a vital, but to purge mirth, for a family man is not always wise either.
??? I have no idea what you're talking about here. Who has urged anyone to "purge mirth" from life? I haven't.
