Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Social Media: A Powerful Tool

God put this post so strongly on my heart that I'm up at 1am to write about it. Social Media....we all love it and are part of it in some way, shape or form. I have been a part of Facebook for almost 10 years now...back in the day when you had to be in college to have an account. I have twitter, instragram and have recently started this blog.  If there was a group for social media addicts I would be there introducing myself and facilitating discussion.  I LOVE social media because it connects us to people we wouldn't have otherwise met, we can follow leaders we want to hear more from, stay in touch with old friends and family and share our lives with new friends.

The problem God has been revealing to me is not the connecting with people but more so the worship of this social media "god" and the lack of face to face time with those planted directly around us.

I have to confess that tonight was one of those nights that I spent more time plugged into Facebook & Twitter and not much time at all plugged into my own family.  As I was laying in bed praying and asking God to forgive me for that he spoke very clearly "Don't get so caught up with who is following you that you forget to follow me".  Wow...I was speechless.

While this isn't a blog post to beg everyone to stop using social media because it's the devil, it is a post to beg everyone to evaluate what is getting most of their time and energy.

Here are some warning signs you might be following social media before God:

1. You open your Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, email, etc before even saying hello to God in the morning.

2. You get annoyed when someone(in person) interrupts you when you are on social media.

3. You find yourself comparing your life to others on Facebook and thus determining your identity or self-worth from there rather than what God says about you.

4. Your idea of a friend is someone you know on Facebook and you can't remember the last time you had a real life or phone conversation with someone.

So besides going to the extreme and abandoning social media all together, how do we manage this ever growing beast?

 Here are some things God placed on my heart to do:

1. Put God first. Do not allow yourself to check-in to the social world until you have connected to God first. Something tells me as we start checking with him each time before we get on we will find our desire to be connected online so much will decrease.


2. Set boundaries. Assign designated times in your day that you connect to others via social media.

3. Ask God which social medial outlet he would have you use. It will wear anyone out keeping up with everything so just don't attempt it or something will suffer(most likely our kids and husband).

4. Unfriend ex's of any kind. This was something he told me to do a long time ago but I feel so passionate about it I felt I was supposed to share it here. There are no circumstances where keeping up with your ex on Facebook is acceptable or beneficial to you and your family. End of story.
 (In the words of Elsa...Let it go!)

I wish I could say I have never been in a place where I abuse social media but I can't.  I understand all too well the power it has over me if I allow it to. Remember that 2 Timothy 1:7 says God gave us self-discipline...use that gift to set healthy guidelines for using this tool.

Simply put, social media is a tool.  It's just like a hammer can be used to build or destroy, social media can be used to build new relationships but also can be used to destroy existing ones.  If we are going to choose to take on the responsibility to hold this tool in our hands we must use it wisely or it will bring destruction rather than life.

God loves and honors order in our life. As we put him and our own family first he will give us the desires of our hearts and make social media fun.


Me with my beautiful family:)


3 comments:

  1. I can't believe there are no comments on this post, because it is badly needed today. I am constantly asking myself if what I am doing with my time on facebook is productive when there are many people in our own neighbourhood needing a 'friend'. I feel like God is brewing in me something that will connect in people together from around our city, instead of connecting with just people around the world, but also right here where I am. There isn't an issue with reaching people around the world, but sometimes we need to start where we are. I am thinking about journaling the local parks in our area on my blog and what age group they would be good for but also to ask people at the park if they have any prayer requests I can pray for them about and then invite them to a facebook group where they can share if they have had any answers to prayer.

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    1. I LOVE this idea Lizzy! What is your blog? I would love to follow along :)

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  2. Awesome blog my friend. I am trying to be on it less but if it wasn't for social media I would never have found you....so I am super grateful for that! xxx

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