Don’t Waste Time on Hobbies!

Do you find yourself scrolling on your phone way too often, for longer periods of time than you know you should? Me too. But I’m currently working on cutting back on my time doing that. It’s hard… (But you probably already knew that.) What I want to remind you -and myself!- of today, though, is how precious our time is. How special of a gift our lives are. How short life is. Our screens can be addicting, but we are stronger than our electronics! We have control over what we choose to do and how we spend our time.

I’ve found that there are a lot of videos with ideas on what to do instead of constantly scrolling, and they seem to have a lot to do with finding hobbies to fill that time with instead. I think finding and developing hobbies is great, and gleaning ideas from other creative people is great too. I have a lot of hobbies and I’d like to get better at some of them, but there’s something we have to remember: Hobbies aren’t the most important things in life. Hobbies aren’t where our focus in life should be. Like I said, I love hobbies and I believe everyone has unique interests and gifts, but… Hobbies are a lot about ourselves. While they can be a good creative outlet and we can use them for good, generally when we’re spending time in our hobbies, it’s about us. It’s “me-time.” And “me-time” -as in time focused on yourself and putting yourself first- could be just as bad as sitting on your phone on YouTube or Pinterest.

I really do think we should take time for our hobbies, so I don’t want to send the message that we shouldn’t paint or dance or go horseback riding. I am even hoping to create more posts about hobbies on my blog! (Blogging itself is a hobby!) But there are so many other important things to do with our time, too, like reaching out to others, spending quality time with the people we love, reading the Bible, praying, serving, giving, and so much more. And we certainly can use our talents to accomplish some of these things! Maybe you love baking and you’re able to use that gift to make dishes for your neighbors, a new mother, or an ailing elder, and I believe those are some of the things our talents like that are meant to be used for, but the world isn’t focused on using our hobbies for the benefit of others or glory of God. The world is obsessed with using our hobbies for ourselves. For “self-care.” I definitely believe in alone time, and spending time with the Lord doing activities we enjoy, but that’s not what the world is telling us to do.

I don’t always try very hard to find ways to use my hobbies for the good of others or glory of God like I should. I like to be shut in my room doing my own thing without interruption sometimes, like working on puzzles- without help. I want to work on them all by myself, listening to music. Sometimes I try to make better use of that time and “multi-task” by praying, but that doesn’t always work so well. Even though I don’t always know how doing a puzzle can be used for good, I believe there’s some way it could be, and it likely doesn’t include shutting people out and listening to music instead of talking to God, unless perhaps I’m actually in need of some alone time or am worshiping with the music. There are so many other things I could be doing with that time, though, like visiting a relative or doing housework. This is where balance comes in, and that verse in Ecclesiastes about there being a “time for everything.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

God created each of us with unique interests and talents and gifts, and I believe He expects us to use them. But not only for our own good or personal gain. I believe we are meant to figure out how to use these special parts of our personalities to reach out to others and give God glory. And I know I need to work on this just as much as anyone else. I simply feel that it should be a more common thing for us to use our hobbies in better ways.

Here are some ideas I’ve come up with to help use our hobbies for good!

Sports: Learning to be a part of a team and get along with others, or “being at peace with all men” (from Romans 12:18), shining light in the midst of darkness by being different than those around you and standing up for the truth, and building relationships, pointing to Christ.

Reading, researching, watching movies and shows: Learning about the world, being inspired to live with more courage, faith, boldness, etc., learning lessons from others’ experiences, filling our minds with good, pure thoughts.

Crafting, creating things, creative writing, art: Sharing the creations with others to brighten their day, point to Christ, share truth, spend quality time with others, such as a younger cousin or niece or nephew.

These are just a (very!) few ideas, but I hope they can get you started in coming up with creative ways you can use what God has given you for His good. He’s the One it’s all meant to be about. So don’t neglect your hobbies but don’t let them go to waste, either!

“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.”

Philippians 2:3-4