Testimonies of a Former Gaming Addict

So, given that it is Easter, I decided to write a post that pertains to the Bible in some way. I happen to know a man that in the past, by his own admission was a "gaming addict." His name is Michael Whitteberry and he is a senior at Maranatha Baptist Bible College where he is studying Accounting Management. I asked him several questions about his past and how that related to the bible.

One of the first questions I asked him was, "How long did you play on average per day?" His response was that he played about five to six hours per day for about five years. When you do the math that is about 11,000 hours of playing ,which equals about 460 days.

After his response to this, I asked Michael if he realized how much time he spent gaming. He said that at first, he did not realize that he was spending so much time gaming, but after a while, he started to understand that the amount of gaming he had been doing was unhealthy, and at that point he started cutting back.

I asked him if the Bible had anything to do with his change in lifestyle. He replied that the Bible played a significant role in this. He had gotten convicted about his lack of productivity and wasted time. When he looked back at the numbers, his response was a simple, "Whoa!"

"Can you think of any scripture that effected you?" When I asked him this, he said that the verse that came to mind was Ecclesiastes 3:1 was one that popped out at him. It states that there is a  time for everything under the sun. This lead to his realization that he was spending so much time on gaming that he was wasting so much of his life and giving time from his responsibilities over to gaming. He stated, "Life is a gift and I wasn't living it to its fullest." He also mentioned the verse in Ephesians that commands us to redeem the time. Both of these scriptures and the idea that life is a gift were the real wake up points for Michael.

Michael began to mature as the time went on and now he is heading into his last semester at Maranatha. While he has no problem with gaming, Michael would caution any gamer to consider the amount of time that he/she is spending on their console, and be more conscious of the time that they have in life.

I will end with this final quote by Michael,

"When gaming starts hindering your opportunities or your relationships, it is time to lay off. Anything can hinder these things if done in excess, not just gaming, but don't let it get to that point."