Whenever I post something on the internet, my intentions are that even if one person is encouraged by it--either by laughter, provoking thought, or simply being comforted--it's worth the post. But is it?I find myself posting all kinds of things mindlessly--videos, memes, quotes--all because it takes less than a minute to either send to someone or post to a wall; I end up doing this without serious thought. It's probably due to my short attention span and my knack for impulsive decision-making. In fact, when Facebook used to limit the number of characters in a status, I was relieved. I was scolded into being concise and discreet. I had to plan better if I was going to say something to the world.
Now, the possibilities are endless. There are no rules. Everyone is posting everything, all of the time. And that includes me. If we truly dissect what social media is on the individual level, it's really just a soapbox. It's the fabricated illusion of credibility--that what I say matters and can truly have an impact. Well that may be true, but what does that reveal about us? How many times a day are we posting to this digital realm--projecting our ideas, beliefs, sense of humor, and spirit out--and neglecting how we act upon them in the real world? Do they match up?
I write this to bring myself attention to the fact that "you are what you post."
Or, are we?
The internet gives us the tools we need to become completely perfect specimens (digitally speaking). Our quotes, memes, articles, and photos are the chisel and our personalized webpages are the block of marble. We get to be God. We get to create ourselves in the image we want to portray.My question is, how does our cyber image match up to our real image?
Bible verse after Bible verse, sometimes I embarrassingly do not spend more than two minutes reflecting on the glory and weight of what I am posting. These are words coming from the mouth of the all-powerful, all-consuming, relentless Creator of the heavens, my Savior, my closest friend.
Laura, I ask myself, did you apply this to your life before you posted it?
Today I posted a verse from Galatians 6:8:
"Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life."
The risk I take when I post this is that someone might think I'm preaching without taking this thought into consideration myself. I mean, that's what Christians are known for, right? Hypocrisy. Well, you got me.
Sometimes when I look back at past journals of mine I can see the hand of God moving in my heart, changing how I think and feel, and I think, wow, I should really listen to myself. There's some good stuff in here! Oh if I only felt that way if I were to scroll through my Facebook history!
What the digital world doesn't know is that I am actually posting this to help myself. I am here to tell you that it's true--I have been sowing to please my flesh a lot lately. (But I'm not going to spill my guts out to the rest of the world through a Facebook status. I'll save my blog for that.)
Lately I've been staying up unnecessarily, sometimes as late as 11:30 or midnight, scrolling through websites and comparing my life with others' (their digital lives, mind you). I obsess over how much food I eat and how little exercise I'm getting when I look at pictures of friends of mine who actually take time out of their day to contribute to their glowing tight thighs. I've been spending too much money on myself when I either should have been saving or giving it away. The list goes on forever. The bottom line is, lately I have been careless, thoughtless, and frivolous; I have been sowing to please my flesh. And I want to change that.
So here's my soapbox moment: if I'm going to post something, it's going to be because I have first reflected on it and have committed to make a change in my physical life to make it true for myself in my digital life. I do not want to live a double-life. I know I need to take a long, hard look at what I portray and compare what's actually going on in my heart, my actions, and what comes out of my mouth. It may be a harsh reality. But to truly care for myself and others, I have to reflect on my own heart before posting.
Remember, sometimes sharing isn't caring.
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