“Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God." -1 Peter 3:3
Confession; I have a love/hate relationship with social media. A long time ago when facebook was the college thing I found it to be useful. I enjoyed the networking aspect of it and keeping in touch with college classmates. Then facebook became too much when it allowed everyone to join. Its simplicity of being one thing now became many things and I don't do well with overload. I struggled with that and I knew that for me it was better to delete it and move on without it.
The endless hours of browsing were gone and I felt relief in not knowing so much about everyone and everything. I felt more invested in my friends and family in real life which was something I felt social media was taking from me. As the years went on I still didn't feel the need to get back on social media. I felt happy with keeping my life and relationships in a place where effort was mutually made to stay in touch and knowing about people was intentional not simply because it was put out there for all to see.
Then one day I was introduced to Instagram. For me this was a dream come true. A place where you upload photographs and filter them? There was nothing extra about it and I really enjoyed that. Finally, a simple app that was fun and it didn't do as much as the rest. Then I realized that Instagram was also based on following others. That we could see what others uploaded and vise versa. The excitement I had for Instagram once again became an overload. Now my eyes were seeing hundreds of images. While not all of those images were bad some simply sent a message that I had to learn to tune out. Images of perfection and everything desirable under the sun. Images of dream vacations, expensive designer bags, shoes, luxury cars and the oh so perfect selfie. All of a sudden my eyes were being exposed to things that could potentially lead to comparison and discontentment.
The excitement I had for Instagram began to slowly fade away and I began to want to browse less and unfollow more. It wasn't that I didn't like knowing what my friends were up to, but the repetitive images of showcasing certain things all the time became a nuissance to my heart. The Bible says in Romans 12:2, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” I realized how social media has more power over us than we can imagine. That this type of subliminal images are dangerous. That these pictures don't just go away after you see them. That these images can potentially travel into your subconscious. Now God’s will for your life isn’t as perfect as you thought it would be. How can you be excited about life when your sitting behind a desk seeing photographs of others showing off all the things they have and you don’t? Now instead of being grateful that you have a job your mad that your job doesn’t pay you enough to afford all of the things you see others doing.
That’s why its important to be reminded of God’s word. What he says and thinks of YOU. The Bible says in Proverbs 4:23, “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” This is so true. Your eyes are your windows to your heart. When you let your guard down things can potentially infiltrate those areas that you should be protecting. How can you be grateful for what you have if your constantly looking at what you don’t? I have always wondered why people have a need to showcase these things. If vacations aren't as nice if the rest of the world doesn't get to come along? If a meal is not as delicious if others don't know where it came from? If our self worth is now being measured based on the number of likes and comments we receive on a selfie? I hope I'm not the only one who has wondered about these things because this is all we see now. Images shared with a purposeful composition that can have the power to insight feelings in us that aren't always of God.
Social Media will only continue to grow, but we have to learn to grow with it and grow without some of it. To be able to see for ourselves what truly matters in life even when were bombarded with images of perfection, materialism and everything in between. We have to learn to guard our hearts and not let these images take room in our lives. The Bible says in 1 Peter 3:3, “Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God." That reminder is so powerful especially when we apply it to social media. To show us that there are more things in life that are of importance than what we see in photographs. While this trend may never end it can end in the desires of your heart when you have a better understanding of who you are in Christ Jesus.
xo,
Lizette
Verses For Reference:
1 Peter 3:3, "Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God."
Romans 12:2, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Proverbs 4:23, “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.”
1 Peter 3:3, “Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God."
