Fasting From Social Media

I’ve been off of social media for about 2 weeks now, or so and there are many things The Lord has shown me through this short period of time. I want to preface this by saying I am beyond thankful for social media, especially for how easily I can spread the gospel through it. I think it’s a great way to keep up with friends and family who live far away and to share your favorite memories with those you love. But today I want to focus on the dark side of social media, the side we all pretend doesn’t exist because we're just too addicted to it and love it too much to focus on the negative, and of course, it will all come from a place of biblical understanding and looking at it through the spiritual lense, because remember Ephesians 6:12 says we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, and I truly believe that social media is being used to keep us in bondage in more ways than one, and I want to speak about it in hopes that you will see where maybe you need a boundary put up in your own life to keep the enemy from placing you in chains and bondage again.

Here are the things I have learned so far in this fast:

1.) I need to be in the moment more

Being in the moment can mean a plethora of things, but really the emphasis here is quality over quantity when it comes to time spent with people. For example, my child would love for me to take her to the park, I can either take her there and play with her, show her how to do new things, and meet new people. Or I could go, sit on my phone the entire time, read a book, or do anything other than spend quality time with her and count that as “taking her to the park”. Yes, I took her but the whole time I'm literally ignoring her, and on top of that getting aggravated when she comes to me “bothering” me to tell me to come to play with her. I do not want to be that person anymore! I want to be in the moment, not letting social media or anything else come in between her and I’s time. I want to choose to be present with her when we do things to make memories, instead of those memories being clouded by social media posts and other people’s drama. The Lord has reminded me that my first ministry is with her! My family is my first ministry, and I am disciplining her in everything I do, whether that is showing her how to be or how not to be. Being present in the moment means being “aware and mindful of what is happening at the very moment”. It is absolutely impossible to be present in the moment when we are looking down at our phones and letting them steal the attention, we should be giving to someone else. Our brains cannot focus on two things at once, one study I read said that only 2.5% of people can multitask, that's such a tiny percentage! That’s something else I am trying to do less of. If our brains literally cannot give two things our full attention, meaning we cannot fully be present in the moment, then that means if we're on our phones during a conversation, with our kids, or doing anything else, most likely the phone is going to be getting all of the attention. Depending on the situation or circumstance that could actually be very dangerous. Whether you are on your phone while driving, which sadly I have done way too many times, or at the park with your child on your phone. For your safety and the other persons in both circumstances, your full attention needs to be either on driving if that's what you're doing or on your child if you are somewhere with them. Long story short, I have learned that I need to be present in the moment and not trying to give my attention to multiple things at once. Since my child is more important when I am with her, she deserves and needs my full attention. Also, I have noticed when I am trying to do something on my phone, and she equally wants my attention I get very aggravated at her and tend to want to push her away so I can sit on my phone. 90% of the time when this happens, I am just reading people’s Facebook or Instagram drama, rarely am I actually doing something that I have to do like paying bills or talking to someone that needs me right then and there. Which is wrong! I should be mad and aggravated at myself and the phone because it’s literally stealing time away from who needs it most! This leads me right to the second thing I have learned.

2.) I got my time back

Ephesians 5:16 tells us “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” I have a question for you, what do you do or what do you run to when you are bored? What do you do or what do you run to when you are upset and want to check out of the present moment? For me, it’s either running to food or scrolling social media. Convicting, I know. We all know, if we have a relationship with God through Jesus, that we should be running to God when our emotions flare up or when we need some council we can run to His word. When we are bored there are 100+ things that need to be done. When did you read your Bible last? Pray to God over specific things in your life or others’ lives? When was the last time you cleaned your walls, toilet, or shower? When was the last time you called a friend instead of scrolling through their social media pages? I know, I do it too. I run to social media instead of doing productive and needful, mindful things. When you are fasting social media, you have no choice but to redeem the time. I have been so productive these past two weeks; I haven’t been perfect. In fact, I had to delete YouTube from my phone because even that app now has social media aspects to it. You can scroll shorts all day long, leave and read comments, and probably more that I don’t even know about. One of the things I have picked up during this time is reading. I am now using my sit-down time to either sit in silence and enjoy the present moment where everything is still and quiet, pray to God while I can think clearly, or read books. Whether that be God’s word, a devotional, or a book about my faith in Jesus. Either way, reading has been a huge pastime for me. I feel way more present in the real world than I ever feel sitting on my phone. Social media is like an entirely other world or dimension where you can literally leave where you are right now and be somewhere completely else mentally. Of course, books can do that too, movies, tv, there’s lots of things but for me, nothing takes me away from the real world like social media does. I have been addicted to it since 7th grade, so we're talking about years of bondage and time wasted. You may not be that addicted to social media, it may be something else, in which case I would tell you that whatever that thing is that has replaced God in your life, whatever has become your idol, fast from it! I would also encourage you TO fast from social media just to see how addicted you just might be. It may surprise you! The days are fleeting, each moment our parents, kids, pets, and spouses, are getting older. Time is literally running short! How many more precious moments do you want to be wasted and stolen from you because of a handheld device? If we are honest with ourselves, most of the time were gossiping (which is sinful), being nosey, arguing, or coveting other people’s looks or things.

3.) Social Media gives me a bad attitude

Too many of my days have started out terribly because I chose to sit and read other people’s opinions, drama, or my own drama I started. (I am not referring to preaching the gospel and people attacking me because they don't believe the truth I am spreading, and attempting to call people out of the darkness and into Jesus’ Light.) How many times did your day get turned upside down because of someone else? At times I feel like a victim, like I did not choose to be affected by this person’s negativity that I read, but then again I kind of did because when we log onto any social media platform we have no idea what is about to come before our eyes. Whether it be inappropriate content, people throwing fits over who knows what, people’s opinion of you that doesn’t even matter, or someone’s belief about something you are completely against. We choose to engage when we choose to log on and we cannot help that when we engage we then open up our feelings to whatever comes our way. The sad reality is when this happens my family gets the bad side of me. As wives we set the tone in our home, you have heard “happy wife, happy life” Well it’s kind of true. We are the emotional ones in the relationship, we cannot help it it's the way we were created, and it’s a good thing! But we can quickly turn it into a bad thing. Too many times the tone in my home has been negative because I chose to engage with the world wide web. Someone I don't even know said something negative about me or my lifestyle and now I am mad and my whole house is gonna hear about it…this is bad! So I am choosing to now stay off of social media. At least for now I am. Too many good things have come out of this fast, and I am not even halfway done with it. I want to be the woman God has called me to be, the wife and momma He has called me to be, and I cannot effectively be that person and also be on social media. The Bible says you cannot serve two masters in Matthew 6:24. So today I am asking you, and encouraging you, to take a look at your master's and choose which one you are going to serve. I pray you to choose Jesus every time! Please, do a social media fast, a sugar fast, or a book fast (unless it’s the bible), whatever master is over you in the place of the Lord. Please take it away so you can see Him clearly. I am telling you that every single time I get rid of social media I feel closer to God and present with Him when I am praying because nothing is between He and I. It reminds me of the hymnal Nothing Between

“ Nothing between, like worldly pleasure:

Habits of life, though harmless they seem,

Must not my heart from Him ever sever-

He is my all! There's nothing between. Nothing between my soul and the Savior,

So that His blessed face may be seen;

Nothing preventing the least of His favor:

Keep the way clear! Let nothing between.”

We must keep the way clear between the Lord and us, and if you feel convicted that something has come between you and Jesus please repent and turn back to God! The One who deserves ALL of your fullest attention. He cannot lead if something else is in His way.