https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Boredom.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\tby Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\tI. The child has a room full of action figures, video games, cable TV, VCR, a huge collection\nof video tapes, every piece of sports equipment known to man, his own telephone, a fully\nloaded computer with Internet access — but he doesn’t have anything to do. He’s bored.\n A. Boredom is the plague of every parent with a child out of school. The cries of “I’m\nbored” seem to begin just hours after school lets out.\n B. Boredom is not just an irritation, it is a spiritual problem. People with time on their\nhands get into all sorts of mischief. – I Tim 5:11-15\n 1. Boredom often leads to drug and alcohol abuse as people look for new\nthrills.\n
2. Boredom often motivates adultery, leading to divorce.<\/p>\n
3. It even leads to suicide as people despair of life.<\/p>\n
II. The Cause of Boredom<\/p>\n
A. Overindulgence<\/p>\n
1. There is a law of diminishing returns – Prov 25:16,27<\/p>\n a. There are limits to amount of “good things” we can handle before it\nbecomes harmful to us.\n
2. When pleasure becomes the first priority, the result is ironically boredom<\/p>\n
a. The symptom of a pleasure-obsessed age is boredom.<\/p>\n 3. Ceaseless pleasures cause ceaseless efforts by people to rekindle the initial\nthrill when they are bored.\n
a. It leads to moral decay – Ezek 16:49-50<\/p>\n
b. Fatness leads to leaving God – Deut. 32:15<\/p>\n c. Heroin addicts have to take a bigger and bigger doses to achieve an\never diminishing high.\n d. Movies that once titillated their audiences with subtle innuendoes\nbecome more and more explicit to keep their audiences entertained.\n
e. It is the breaking of taboos that gives the thrill – Prov 9:17<\/p>\n (1) People keep stepping over the line of propriety to get their\nthrills and the line keeps moving\n
(2) As their conscience becomes seared, it takes more to excite.<\/p>\n 4. Truly, covetousness and greed doesn’t bring happiness but sorrow – I Tim\n6:10\n 5. When a child is bored, there is a temptation to “solve the problem” by\ngiving him more things. Instead of helping, we are perpetuating it. Instead\nof improving we are causing harm.\n 6. When adults get bored, this same solution is repeated. We buy ourselves\ngoodies to make ourselves feel better. If we can’t afford it, that is alright,\nwe just add to our debt until we are swimming in a despairing sea of\nobligations we can never repay in our lifetime.\n
B. Under-exertion<\/p>\n
1. Laziness causes a deep sleep – Prov 19:15<\/p>\n 2. The slothful turn back and forth on his bed like a door on its hinges – Prov\n26:14\n
3. Lack of work makes us disorderly and busybodies – II Thess 3:11<\/p>\n
4. The lazy is too bored to even enjoy his indulgences – Prov 19:24<\/p>\n
5. The lazy does not enjoy what he has – Prov 12:27<\/p>\n
III. Solving the problem<\/p>\n
A. Contentment<\/p>\n 1. When will we learn that life is not defined by the abundance of the things we\nown? – Luke 12:15\n
2. In many cases less is more<\/p>\n
a. Prov 15:16 – with fear of God<\/p>\n
b. Prov 15:17 – with love<\/p>\n
c. Prov 16:8 – with righteousness<\/p>\n
d. Prov 17:1, Eccl 4:6 – with quietness<\/p>\n
3. More leads us away from God. Less brings us close to God.<\/p>\n
4. Godliness with contentment is a large gain – I Tim 6:6-10<\/p>\n 5. Are you happy? If you never gained another possession, if you never\nreceived another pay raise, would you be content with your lot in life? – Phil\n4:11-13.\n
B. Diligence<\/p>\n
1. Our approach to life often determines our attitude towards life.<\/p>\n
a. Prov 23:7 – We are as we perceive ourselves to be.<\/p>\n b. Mark 7:21-22 – Sins come from our heart — from our own\nattitudes.\n
2. The answer to boredom is deciding not to be bored!<\/p>\n a. If you allow yourselves to be bored, you will be. Those who\ndecided they won’t be bored won’t be.\n
b. Most situations live up or down to our expectations.<\/p>\n
3. Are you bored with services, consider these<\/p>\n
a. Rom 12:11 – Be diligent in service, be fervent in spirit<\/p>\n
b. Heb 6:10-12 – Avoid sluggishness and show diligence<\/p>\n
4. Whatever we do, we are to do it with all our ability – Col 3:23-24<\/p>\n
a. Eccl 9:10 – This life is our only chance, so make the best of it.<\/p>\n
C. Growth<\/p>\n
1. Notice how often diligence is mentioned – II Pet 1:5-11<\/p>\n a. If you are busy improving yourself and improving your knowledge,\nyou will not grow bored.\n b. Unlike indulgences, there is no diminishing returns to spiritual\ngrowth.\n 2. The Christian life involves a endless growth in the grace and knowledge of\nour Lord – II Pet 3:18\n
IV. Be someone new<\/p>\n
A. No longer live for yourself, but for Christ – II Cor 5:14-17<\/p>\n B. No longer think in terms of what I want, what makes me happy, why I’m bored, but\nlive for Jesus. – Rom 12:1-2\n
C. John 15:8 – By this, glorify God<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton I. The child has a room full of action figures, video games, cable TV, VCR, a huge collection of video tapes, every piece of sports equipment known to man, his own telephone, a fully loaded computer with Internet access — but he doesn’t have anything to do. He’s bored. A. Boredom is the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[119,1028,32],"tags":[511,634,382,665,385,384,677,383,386,38,29,107],"class_list":["post-42951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-parenting","category-sermon","tag-apathy","tag-attitude","tag-boredom","tag-child-rearing","tag-contentment","tag-diligence","tag-gluttony","tag-growth","tag-laziness","tag-morality","tag-parenting","tag-raising-children"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1538,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-child-have-too-many-toys\/","url_meta":{"origin":42951,"position":0},"title":"Can a child have too many toys?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 23, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can too many toys hamper a child's play? Answer: You might be surprised to learn that overindulging in \"things,\" such as toys, can lead to boredom. The article \"Boredom\" provides\u00a0more details.","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1541,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/boredom\/","url_meta":{"origin":42951,"position":1},"title":"Boredom (Hamilton)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 7, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton The child has a room full of action figures, video games, cable TV, DVD player, a huge collection of movies, every piece of sports equipment known to man, his own telephone, a fully loaded computer with high-speed Internet access ... but he doesn't have a thing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2004\/07\/bored.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13849,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-too-many-toys-hamper-a-childs-play\/","url_meta":{"origin":42951,"position":2},"title":"Can too many toys hamper a child’s play?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 24, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can too many toys hamper a child's play? Answer: You might be surprised to learn that overindulging in \"things\", such as toys, can lead to boredom. See the article \"Boredom\" for more details.","rel":"","context":"In "Childhood"","block_context":{"text":"Childhood","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/parenting\/childhood\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":67201,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/time-to-reflect\/","url_meta":{"origin":42951,"position":3},"title":"Time to Reflect","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 26, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton If you are bored, you are not studying and thinking about the rich treasures available to be enjoyed in Christ. When Paul and Silas were in prison, do you think they had time to be bored? Reflect on what gives you purpose and drive. Do you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":62413,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/parenting-mistakes\/","url_meta":{"origin":42951,"position":4},"title":"Parenting Mistakes","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 24, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"by Scott Smelser The Family","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":62721,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/parents\/","url_meta":{"origin":42951,"position":5},"title":"Parents","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 2, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Robert Speer The Home","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42951"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42951\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}