Day 23 & 24 :: Social Media & How it Can Affect our Ability to Thrive

Today’s post is a combination of Day 23 & Day 24.  Our internet was out yesterday afternoon when I had planned to write my post, so I was unable to get Day 23 up in time.  Thanks for your understanding!

We read a friend’s Facebook status and instantly we feel jealous and discontent because we’re struggling with something or don’t have the ease and comfort their Facebook status says they have.

We browse Pinterest and notice someone has a board about toddler developmental games.  Immediately we start our own board because we think, “If I was really a good Mom, I’d be doing these things with my child.”

Our Instagram feeds show pictures of happy children picking pumpkins and running through corn mazes, only to stir up feelings of inadequacy because we can barely get our kids fed, clothed, and bathed without having a complete meltdown.

And Twitter, well reading tweets can make us feel dumb or unimportant because we can’t come up with witty sayings about daily happenings.  Or, maybe we feel ‘behind’ or ‘ignorant’ because we don’t have a Twitter account. Or perhaps we judge others thinking, “Wow, how do they have time to do that?  Certainly they’re neglecting something else in their life.”  Judgmental attitudes are rampant in the social media realm.

And on and on it goes.  You know what I’m talking about.

Never before have we known so much about the daily happenings of peoples’ lives.  Or at least, glimpses of others’ lives.  The window of social media allows us to ‘see’ things that when handled in the wrong way can affect our ability to thrive.

Somehow we’ve fallen into the trap of believing that what others do is the measure of how we should live our lives.  We compare and if we find ourselves lacking, we try to imitate.  This ‘wanting to be like everyone else’ isn’t only a struggle in adolescent years; with the rise of social media we’re battling this temptation more than ever before.  And it’s not because we want to be popular, it’s because we think that if we’re not doing what someone else is doing, somehow we’ve failed.

And if we fail, we don’t thrive.

So we live in this vicious cycle of comparing, imitating, and failing.

By imitating others we lose sight of how we are to truly live and more importantly, WHO it is we are to live for.

Ephesians 5:1 says, “Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children.”  

Imitate God.

It’s simple.  His standard is the one that I use to measure my life.  His Word should guide and shape my decisions, not what I see happening in my social media feeds.

When I choose to imitate God instead of others, I can thrive because I’m walking with Him, growing closer to Him, allowing His Spirit to work in me, and living my life for His glory.

For a list of all posts in this series go here.