| firebush03 said: Actually… I’ve got a question. Have any of you struggle with feelings of guilt associated with video games? For instance: I cannot play any M-rated video games nor do I feel comfortable engaging too often with video games without feeling a deep rooted sense of guilt. As though I worship an idol of this world. |
Never felt guilt when playing a game but how I played sure.
I think over-consumption is more of an issue than the engaging/consumption in general of a subject matter - same as pretty much everything whether its food, drink, etc.
In the past I used to do MMOs around 2007-2012 and it was problematic because I was completely cut off from the outside world and was around people who were a negative influence, people with no future basically - grew unhealthy habits such as overeating, being overweight, etc , caused a lot of issues such as my health (Blood pressure, sugar, etc were all high) which made me run away from life's issues and I just spent my time sulking grinding in a never endless grind going down a path with no future. It was so bad I didnt realize a lot of the stuff that happened around the time such as the house market crash or H1N1 being an issue, etc
I quit playing MMOs back in 2012 because I just got sick of it all - started to go to college, started to work, lost a lot of weight - changed a lot of life style choices to pave way to a better future.
-Graduated College in 2015
-Lost significant weight and became healthy again across all aspects (Blood sugar, pressure, etc)
-Got married in 2016
-Started my IT career in 2016 as well
-Bought a house in 2018
-Bought myself a car in 2022
-Became a father in 2024
-Started doing stuff that I would never expected myself to do such as traveling (Went to India, UK, France, UAE, etc) and building up my life/family to where it is now in 2025.
As for the rated M games portion, it didnt influence me on how my life turned out to be so I didnt see it as an issue, if something like a game influences you , then that would be a major issue imo.
I didnt become a GTA style corrupt character or anything like that. I played Grand Theft Auto Vice City which was my first Rated M game and I was like 15 years old but I still knew that killing was wrong, I knew consuming alcohol or drugs is wrong, and I knew engaging promiscuously is wrong.
Its like reading a book like the Bible for an example - there's stories of how people did actions that went against God's commandments such as Moses killing someone or David taking someone else's wife - just because you engaged in something whether its reading or playing something should NOT influence you to do that exact action or repeat that exact behavior - if it does, then that is a problem. To me, I see these as examples of what NOT to do in real life.
You know how people say, you learn from your mistakes. My Grandma would tell me when she raised me, dont make mistakes by learning from other people's mistakes so you dont make those same or similar mistakes.
My Father and Grandfather had a lot of issues with drinking alcohol - due to what had happened to them health wise and how their actions were from drinking influenced me on NOT to drink alcohol instead of encouraging me to be like them. My grandma would also tell me, to be better than those who came before you. I strive myself to become a better husband, a better father and a better person than those who came before me.
I've seen people on the internet being heavily influenced by characters from pieces of media or celebrities - and just found it weird that people could easily be influenced like that when I was younger however - now my point of view is different and I see that we are all born of sin and are not perfect, we all make mistakes, can be easily influenced or manipulated, the only thing we can do is encourage those who are willing to hear to change for the better , to fix themselves up whether its a unhealthy habit, unhealthy mindset, etc - not perfectly because that is impossible in this world to be perfect but to be as good as you can be in this broken world while praying for forgiveness and accepting Christ.
tl;dr - Dont overconsume or play for hours and hours to the point where it neglects your life or the lives of others and dont be influenced into doing something that is clearly wrong from something you consume.
I live by these principles so I dont feel guilt about engaging in my hobby.
| killeryoshis said: I have a hard time logically explaining how video games could bring guilt. It is art. No different than movies or books. It only becomes an issue when it draws you away from your duties. For example, if you choose to play video games instead of praying, then there is a problem. But if you did all your prayers, video game playing has no issues. If anything, you deserve it! So I would classify excessive video game playing as under the Deadly Sin of Sloth. As for mature games, I don't feel anything with extreme violence. I don't think it is considered a sin anywhere. Sexual stuff makes sense, but unless you are playing the game specifically for that stuff, it shouldn't be too much of an issue. |
| 123tbones said: There’s a passage from the Bible that I think is important to remember when it comes to playing video games: |
I would say I would agree with these two as how I would see it - probably better than the rant I posted above lmao.
