My church has standards for youth. They are set out very clearly, and Jordan opened my thoughts to a wider interpretation of a particular line from it.
Choose wisely when using media because whatever you read, listen to, or look at has an effect on you. Select only media that uplifts you.
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/for-the-strength-of-youth/entertainment-and-media?lang=eng
The section on entertainment and media continues to describe some things that should not be viewed, and these are generally the context in which the above is interpreted.
Violence, immorality, and vulgarity are specifically called out to be avoided.
What I think is interesting about the above quote is it is the true standard. We more easily home in on the checklist items because they are easy.
But the guidance isn’t only “avoid violent stuff.” It is specifically “engage in only uplifting things.”
We’re still figuring this one out, but we were waylaid recently by being distracted by things that were not uplifting.
They were informative.
They were educational.
But they made us covet a lifestyle that isn’t what we should have been pursuing. We pursued things because of these YouTube videos that aren’t who we are or what we should be prioritizing.
So not only should we activwly embrace things that are uplifting, we should be very aware of the impact of what we view because it may gently lead us to consider a path that was less than ideal for us.
Are these videos inherently problematic? No. But there were enough of them, and they were long enough, and we watched enough of them that we got sidetracked and were less able to hear promptings about what we should do, and took it on ourselves to set our own course.
Has God still blessed our efforts? Yes Have we still done good things? Yes. Have others still served us and we’ve been blessed by them? Yes.
But we could have been better aligned with God’s will. And a family-friendly educational set of creators were what subtly diverted us.
Even little things can have a significant impact.