Key Points
- Rising streaming prices show how small recurring expenses can quietly become significant parts of a household budget.
- Biblical stewardship asks Christians to consider not only what they can afford but whether their money and time are being used wisely.
- Entertainment can be a good gift, but it can become unhealthy when it consistently serves as an escape from responsibilities, fear, or difficult emotions.
- Christian contentment is rooted in God’s presence rather than in having unlimited access to comfort and entertainment.
- The goal is not to reject television or streaming but to enjoy entertainment without allowing it to control our finances, attention, or hearts.
My husband and I are cracking down on spending to get out of debt—credit cards, student loans, medical bills, and anything else that crushes our credit score and limits our financial capacity. What was one of the easiest things to consider cutting back on? Streaming services.
Streaming services were all the rave several years ago as Covid kept theaters shut down. Meanwhile, streaming services trumped the price of cable while offering nearly as many viewing options. And let’s not forget the breakdown of just how affordable they truly were. If you wanted to pay for Prime for a month, all you had to do was cut back on one Starbucks coffee—not for a week, but for a day. One coffee equaled one month of streaming. Entertainment was never more convenient.
As with gas and groceries, though, the price of streaming services has climbed. In fact, it has climbed much higher, much faster. Since 2022, major streaming prices have risen at more than three times the rate of overall inflation. To break it down, if you’re subscribed to eight ad-free streaming services, you’re probably paying out around $151 a month. For some families, that is two weeks of gas or a cart filled with groceries.
One streaming service promises live sports until it’s a big game, and then the big game is bought out by somebody else, and you’re chasing another “free subscription” for seven days that you will undoubtedly forget to cancel. A few weeks later, you look at your monthly budget and realize that you have a triple-digit loss to bright icons on your tv’s home screen that you never click on.
The reality is that small recurring expenses can quietly reshape our budgets, so how can Christians practice intentional stewardship in a culture built around convenience and constant consumption?
How Can Christians Count the True Cost of Convenience?
Luke 14:28-30,33 says, “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’… In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.”
Everything costs something, even when it seems that you’ve walked away with a free deal. Somebody, somewhere, pays with their time, effort, heart, mind, and/or finances for every single thing.
In Luke 14, Jesus explains that being His disciple costs every earthly thing. Committing ourselves to Christ means that we hold everything we love with a loose grip, releasing our heart’s desires and our life’s loyalties into His hands.
Thus, we are meant to steward our blessings well.
Our bodies? They are a temple that should be cared for through proper diet, exercise, and mental, emotional, and physical check-ups.
Our relationships? They are gifts that should be cultivated through service, faithfulness, and love.
Our finances? They are earthly resources that should be multiplied to serve, bless, and advance God’s kingdom.
And while considering how much money you’re spending (or wasting) on streaming services might seem insignificant in the grand scheme of life, it’s a disservice to God to discount the financial blessing of $150, and it’s a discredit to the faith we are called to live out when we don’t consider if we are sacrificing such a financial blessing for the sake of unhealthy binging comfort.
Ask yourself: “Do I use my streaming services to enjoy wholesome entertainment? Do I use this outlet to spend time with loved ones? Or is it all an escape where I binge excessive amounts of television to ignore my responsibilities and calling?”
If streaming entertainment is your vice, ask God to bless you with strength to face the day’s challenges, joy to endure the hard days with contentment, and discernment to use streaming services to spend time well.
What Do Our Streaming Habits Reveal About Contentment?
Hebrew 13:5 is clear when it says, “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'”
We fall in love with vices far too easily. They become idols, intentional or not, and we find ourselves emptying our pockets for the most unsatisfying things so long as they numb us to our reality for a short while.
I speak from experience, as someone who will binge movies and shows when my headspace gets too full of fear and lies. It’s so much easier to just tune out our problems with entertainment, especially if it’s financially feasible, and even if it’s wholesome content. But all this does is keeps us from the reward of living with intentionality and endurance. And that reward is the presence of God.
This doesn’t mean we aren’t allowed to watch television, but it means we are to consider where we are spending our financial resources and time and to consider why. As Christians, it’s mandated that we not only live with selfless hearts, but that we walk in wisdom and allow the Holy Spirit to convict us of things as simple as streaming services.
God often changes us through intimacy, through His quiet voice removing all fine lines, all gray lies, all the layers of false protection we’ve stacked around ourselves. So if we let Him truly rule our hearts, if we live life with a loose grip on every earthly thing, we will notice His hand and His voice in our entertainment, in how we spend that extra five bucks, and in the state of our hearts.
How Can Christians Enjoy Entertainment Without Being Controlled by It?
I grew up in a legalistic church that was founded on manmade control and prohibited God’s grace to reach the congregation’s ears. So I don’t want to preach that God hates television or that you can’t enjoy a show when you’ve had a long day. Entertainment done well and right is a gift. Consider Philippians 4:8: “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is purely whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”
God is our Creator, so is it any wonder that we, too, like to create and enjoy good, beautiful things? It’s not only good but admirable to enjoy God-honoring things in this life.
All I ask of you is to consider what controls you and, most importantly, what you look to for the abundant life.
Where Do We Look for the Abundant Life?
Friends, I’ve seen so many highs and lows in life, and I know what it means to desperately need an escape from the lowest lows. But I promise that there is only one place unshakable joy is found, and I beg you to chase it with a heart bent towards His purpose, a heart that trusts in His goodness:
“The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy, my purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” John 10:10
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are streaming prices getting so expensive?
Major streaming services have repeatedly increased subscription prices as the industry has matured, while households often subscribe to several platforms at the same time.
What does the Bible say about financial stewardship?
Scripture encourages Christians to handle money wisely, count the cost of their decisions, practice contentment, and remember that their resources ultimately belong to God.
Is watching television or using streaming services wrong for Christians?
No. Entertainment can be enjoyed as a good gift. The important question is whether it is being used wisely or beginning to control our money, time, attention, or emotional well-being.
Can binge-watching become unhealthy?
It can when entertainment regularly becomes a way to avoid responsibilities, relationships, difficult emotions, spiritual growth, or other important parts of life.
How can Christians decide which streaming subscriptions to keep?
Consider how often each service is used, its financial cost, the time it consumes, whether it supports healthy entertainment, and whether keeping it reflects wise stewardship in your current season.
For Further Reading
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Skynesher
Originally published October 13, 2026.
