What is a Charger?
Around my house if you lose your charger, the world seems to be coming to an end. We are all guilty of making special markings on our personal phone charger to make sure nobody else tries to make claim to what keeps the world turning on its axis – our cell phone chargers! These days a cell phone charger is life. Ball is life? Charger is life! Without that charger, our cell phones are powerless and useless.
I asked a few people this past week the question, “What is a Charger?” They gave me a look as though I was asking them a simple question that everyone knows the answer to. “Are you talking about my cell phone charger?” So I added, “I am not talking about your cell phone charger, ‘What is a Los Angeles Charger’, formerly the San Diego Chargers?”
Everyone answered with the same response, “Oh that is a lightning bolt”. So I then said something like, “So a charger is a bolt of lightning or a charge of energy? Based on the Chargers helmets, that response does makes sense to me.
In Part 1 of this 3 Part Series, I want to speak briefly on the importance we have placed on a simple phone charger. No matter where you go, someone is looking for or has found a power outlet to connect their smart phone to. Why? It is because the cell phone now owns us.
When traveling as a team to a game, it is no longer a bus full of athletes telling stories and laughing. Every athlete has their headphones in and are either on social media or watching a show on their smart phone. Yes there are some amazing benefits that come with a smart phone, but when do we cross the line of addiction and ultimately a negative impact on the world as we know it.
I am pretty certain and have read plenty on the harmful effects of a cell phone on the human body, both physically and mentally. Cell phones placed near you when you sleep effect you in numerous ways. When checking your likes or your fantasy team is the last thing you do before you go to sleep and the first thing you check when you wake up, then addiction is only answer.
There is nothing wrong with watching a game or movie, listening to music, checking on your social media, or playing a video game on your smart phone. You can even listen to worship music, read your Bible AP, and do many more spiritually beneficial things on your phone, but if we don’t learn to set standards, limits, and establish moral accountability, then our smart phones will soon control us all, especially our kids. Smart phones now babysit and sadly provide too many opportunities for our kids to see porn or be influenced in other negative areas.
I am as guilty as everyone about allowing the smart phone to control my life, even when it comes to texting while driving on occasion, so I am preaching to the choir as I write this blog post. Join me in being intentional when it comes to limiting the cell phones control over our lives. Be honest with yourself and face the fact that we need to change, instead of charge 24/7. We made it just fine prior to our smart phones. We can and will easily make it once we choose to limit ourselves in this area.