“That video game did something to me.” Adam’s parents heard him confess this after his freshman year in college. That day, they realized they were dealing with something more serious than a bad habit. It had all the signs of an addition.
His mom researched gaming addiction, learning how similar it is to all other addictions. The dopamine hit. The cravings. The impaired self-control. The pulling back from healthy relationships and valued priorities.
She recalls the frustration and exhaustion during Adam’s school years growing up, always being the mom-cop laying down the law about video games. In hindsight she warns, “Ask yourself some questions: Is game use in your home increasing over time? Is game time displacing … healthy hobbies? Are your child’s grades and relationships suffering? Is his gaming distancing him from God and his family? If you sense something’s wrong with your child’s relationship with screens, don’t ignore that persistent inner warning—as I did for so long.”
Adam’s mom went on to become the founder of ScreenStrong, a national nonprofit that works with families to eliminate childhood screen dependency.
She encourages, “Every family is facing the tidal wave of digital technology in childhood, but not every family has to be swept away by it. We can be more informed and diligent as we align our kids’ activities with our values. The solution isn’t about taking away our kids’ fun but giving back their deeper joy in real-life engagement. God created a world for them to explore and adventures for them to have in real life. Let’s point them in his direction” (https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/child-addicted-video-games/).
Let’s create happy, healthy, well-balanced, well-prepared children who love veggies more than video games. Like Daniel, a talented teenager taken from his home in Israel by an invading army and deported as a prisoner of war to Babylon. He and his three friends—Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego—were put through intense training to become wise men in the king’s court. And the training included eating food that was unhealthy, and also prohibited by God’s law.
“But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine … ‘Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink.’ At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food … [The king] found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom” (Daniel 1:8,12,15,20).
We all need to be like Daniel. Trusting in a faithful God, who always keeps his promises. Turning to a merciful God, whose loving wisdom is right and true even when bad things happen. Taking into account a powerful God, more sovereign than the greatest of governments and kings. Testifying to a personal God who is part of our story, and reaches out to others through us.
PRAYER: Give me nothing, God, except what you know is good for me. Align my heart, my values and my hopes with what is good rather than what others expect or what this world offers. Amen.
FURTHER STUDY: Notice the contrasts in these verses from Daniel chapter 1. The different tens, and Daniel’s “nothing” ending up being “better than all.”