Social Media is not the boss of me. God‘s Word alone is my authority.
/Social media is not the boss of me. God‘s Word alone is my authority.
So much easier to type than to live out among the hype. We live in a world inundated by online connection and frustrated by real life disconnection. It’s a vicious cycle. Apart from putting social media in its proper place, it will keep us running this crazy rat race. Keep us comparing. Keep us competing. Keep us captive to counterfeit connection. We are longing for so much more, and yet we are settling for so much less than Christ alone, and He alone is the very best.
Now, I am not knocking social media entirely, because it can be used for good, but it should not dictate what we do and don’t do. Keyboard warriors try to control the way we feel about ourselves, and internet bullies will pick a fight and then move on to someone else. We’re bowing down to idols, and giving in to pressure of lesser authorities, when our King of Kings and Lord of Lord says, “You shall have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:3. Our feeds are full of “gods” and we fill up on them before we feast on Him. We must connect with God first, so we can connect with others best.
We have settled for a watered down version of the world’s interpretation of scripture when God longs for us to drink deeply from His Living Water. It’s not wrong to receive encouragement through devotional thoughts, books, Bible studies, and articles, and quotes, but we cannot allow the world’s interpretation to replace the Word’s revelation and inspiration. We need to read it for ourselves, and seek Him above all else.
My heart’s desire is to be wholly dependent on Him — feasting on the richness of His Word instead of snacking on substitutes that do not satisfy. The world doles them out on a daily basis, and I believe it is part of the enemy’s plan to starve us of the Truth by filling us up with substitutes.
I confess. I struggle with social media. I sometimes open an app on my phone before I open God’s Word and kneel before His throne. I post and check back to see if others have validated me. I look for likes, shares, and comments from “friends” and “followers” when I know God loves me lavishly, He gave His life for me, and what He says about me is the only validation I need (Psalm 62:1-2). I am fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 149:14). I need no other approval (Galatians 1:10). Period. Full stop. End of discussion.
So, if we know all this, then how do we fix it? We fix our eyes on Jesus! We release our tendency to succumb and receive His supernatural ability to overcome (1 John 4:4). We confess. We surrender. We trust. We open the Word before we open an app. We believe His Truth before settling for a substitute.
Social media is not the boss of you and me. God’s Word alone is our authority.
We can and must stop the scroll, and open the Word. That’s the only way His voice will be heard.
Five practical tips to help you take authority over social media’s influence in your heart and home:
Try a social media fast
Have boundaries/limits to social media
Talk openly as a family about what you’re seeing/engaging in when on social media
Replace online connection with in person connection
Delete apps. Make social media harder to easily access.
Three awesome resources (2 books and a documentary):