In an age where life seems to be ruled by Social Media, it’s hard to not see everyone else living their “perfect” life. People fall into the trap of not realizing that the persona that they see online, is not actually real. It’s a moment captured after A LOT of staging has been done. Let me ask you this, would you rather enjoy time with your loved ones and friends, or time staging a photo to show a stranger how “perfect” your life is. If you chose the second option, we need to have a little chat. When you do that, you are not just harming yourself, but 1). Driving yourself crazy to get that photo, 2). You are adding to the ever-growing issue of “Keeping up with the Jones’”, and 3). Losing out on precious time that you won’t get back, for something that is not authentic.
Do you realize how many conversations you missed out on, while you are sitting on your phone mindlessly scrolling? More importantly, how many conversations have you missed out on, that you can share the Lord’s word with someone. This doesn’t have to be something extravagant either. It could be a simple verse that comes to mind when someone is going through something difficult. God wants you to be present with people, He wants you to have that community. Being so reliant on our phone has made us such a lonely bunch of people. The phone screen will never be able to give you the GREAT conversation that your friend can. I promise you that.
God wants us to be authentic with each other, to share with each other the things we are struggling with, this is what helps grow us as a community of Believers. God knows our deepest selves, so let me tell you, you can’t fool Him. Why fool your brothers and sisters in Christ? Where does that leave you? It is making people want to be more like you, instead of leading people to be more like Jesus. Do you see where I am going here? We are told MULTIPLE times in the Bible that we are not to follow man but follow Jesus. Do you think that is possibly why we are so distant from others? We are missing so many opportunities to show the light of God, but instead we are following blindly in the darkness.
Do not get me wrong. Social Media can be AMAZING. If you use it the right way. Think of it this way, when you look at your Instagram feed, are you being encouraged, or feeling a sense of jealousy, or comparison? When someone goes through your page, what are they seeing? Are they seeing an authentic you, or a character that you have made up? How does your page make others feel? That’s where you find the difference.
The would is a pretty dark place right now, adding to all the comparison, and what not is not helping us. It is pushing people further away, it is creating people that want to be better than the last person, (not in a good way) and it’s causing so much negative space. Why would you want to be a part of that? Why don’t you want to be in the group that makes people feel better, or help them through a really hard time? I think something we all can work on, is being the light in someone’s life because you NEVER know if you are the only flicker of hope that they get to see in a day. I urge you, let Jesus’ light shine through you, so those people can find Jesus.
1 John 1:7 - But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin.
This verse says it all, “Walk in light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another,” Y’all! FELLOWSHIP! It means you must talk to one another, and that’s not just your fellow believers. You must talk to others, ones that may not have a clue who Jesus is, or maybe they do but they aren’t sure what His words truly mean. Put yourself in their shoes, the fear they may have, uncertainty, sadness, or how lonely they must feel! Why would you want to keep Jesus away from them, what if you can be the lamp at their feet, until they get to read the Bible? What if you are the ONLY church they have?
Y’all I am telling you, do not let your phone get in the way of relationships, discussions, teaching, and all the other good things you may be missing out on, by keeping your head down, or while you are staging that “perfect” photo because you are scared that people will see the real you.
I am the founder of Be the Plankton and enjoys bringing light to people that need it! I speak from personal experiences and love being vulnerable when it comes to faults and mistakes that I am learning from. I want to encourage people that no matter who you are or what background you come from, the Jesus loves you and wants you to walk with him! You can find me through betheplankton.com, or on Instagram @betheplankton where I share blog posts and encouragement!
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