Social Media

I’ve found something out over the last few months that I’ve never really seen before and yet it’s been here all along. It’s something that has convicted me and has made me stop and think. 

Yes I have struggled with this issue many times. It keeps hitting me in the face. Actually almost every time I open a platform of social media that presents itself with aesthetically pleasing photos. 

My relationship with social media has been a love hate relationship recently. The desire to see what my friends are doing and how they’re living life is a plus! I love that… until it’s not just that anymore. 

I want to make myself clear when I say that the devil works in social media too. And when I say that, I am by no means saying that social media shouldn’t be allowed. That is a personal conviction for each individual to seek wisdom on from the Lord. I am just sharing what I have felt, seen and heard when it comes to society and social media. 

What once was an innocent place for me of sharing photos of life with family and friends and  thoughts + inspirations from the Lord is now replaced with aesthetically pleasing photos from other posts or my own that has caused me to spiral into an emotional spinning wheel of comparison, jealousy and insecurity. 

I LOVE home decor things. I thrive off of decorating and creating beautiful spaces. But even that has been twisted by the enemy for me to not even do it for the right reasons. And I didn’t realize it until I started noticing how I reacted to imperfect spaces in my home that weren’t finished yet. 

I was behind in laundry, dishes hadn’t been done yet, I was babysitting from home as my job, the bed wasn’t made… and I FREAKED out. I almost had a full on panic attack. I felt trapped in a house of imperfection and I couldn’t breathe. Now, we should keep a tidy home and I’m not condoning laziness. But anxious thinking of feeling imperfect  can cause anyone to walk out the door, grab an iced coffee and not return for a few hours. *raises hand* As this happened a few other times after that, I started to dive deep into my heart and find out what was going on. And it hit me. 

Social media. 

Instagram and Pinterest are probably the top platforms of social media when it comes to aesthetic. Pictures are edited in whatever theme we choose. Poses, outfits, home decor or any other lifestyle that isn’t ours, we crave. We crave things we don’t have, we wish for them. And sometimes (me) we post hoping that maybe what I have looks just as great or BETTER than that last picture I just saw from someone else. And then maybe I’m enough too. Pinterest often times is a great place to find inspiration for anything! I love it! Maybe too much. I have made boards myself that are titled “Future Home Dreams” or something like that. And what is inside that board of my dreams? Things I don’t have. Things I wish I did have. We call them dreams and it’s not wrong to have dreams… but for me personally, I think it’s more than that. It’s coming from a place in my heart of discontentment. I wonder what would happen if instead I made a title on the board that says, “Dear God, I don’t like what I have. So here’s what I want instead.”  Instagram can be used in the same way. I honestly cringe at those thoughts. That’s not me… is it? Yet I know the answer to that question. 

One of my favorite songs of all time says this… 

“Anything I put before my God is an idol
Anything I want with all my heart is an idol
Anything I can't stop thinking of is an idol
Anything that I give all my love is an idol…”

Those are serious words. Not only is it serious to idolize someone’s life or things of this earth, but a sin. 

Exodus 20:3-5,17,20 

[3] Thou shalt have no other gods before me. [4] Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: [5] Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; [17] Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's. [20] And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.

Not only is God a jealous God and he wants all that desire and craving to be placed on him, he’s a caring God. Coveting others things not only causes discontentment and bitterness but also stress and anxiety if what we have doesn’t match what others have. And he does not wish for us to be in that state of mind but at peace and our identity found in him. 

Often times these desires and wishes come from a place of insecurity and a need to be seen. And God wants to fill that place for me and you. 

The Lord also has said to me before that I can get off social media and still struggle with this issue and that is true. Sometimes social media breaks aren’t the only ultimate fix. It’s God’s healing in those insecurities and desires that brings us through. 

Natalie.