This morning in my quiet time I read the following from my daily devotional by Paul David Tripp:
Here's how need-driven addiction (spiritual slavery) develops. It all starts with desire ("I want..."). There is nothing evil about desire. God created us with the capacity to desire. Everything we say and do is the product of desire. Yet it is very hard for sinners to hold desire with an open hand. It doesn't take long for our desires to morph into demands ("I must..."). The thing that was once a desire is now taking hold of us. We're less willing to live without it. We're more and more convinced that we have to have it. Then demand morphs into need ("I will..."). Now, with great resolve and surety, we are convinced that we cannot live without it.and
This thing that was once an open-handed desire has been christened a need. We're now fully convinced that it would be impossible to live without it. It is now in control of our hearts. We think about it all the time. We are fearful when we're without it. We plot how to keep it in our lives.
Now, please understand that social media for others is just fine with me. If you use it, and not it you, then all is good. But for me, if I asked myself the question, "can I give it all up?" The answer was, "well, I need it for my blog, to see whats going on with my family, to see if people like what I have to say....etc!" Do you hear the resounding NO in there?!
I realized that it had me, and not me it. All those years ago when I began to blog, I had no social media. Not personally or for my blog. And slowly it started. Just fb, so I can make a fb page for my blog. Just twitter, so I can retweet my stuff there, just instagram... It certainly (for me) has crept up and bit me in the behind.
The amount of stuff that has come my way of late, to let it go, has been phenomenal. In church this week they spoke about pleasing the flesh, or pleasing the Holy Spirit. Now to have social media, especially if driven solely for the promotion and love of the Lord is great. For me, that's what I said it was, but every time I went there to check, it was about who saw it, how many likes, did anyone share it? Now, I realize that it may seem to you that I am making a mountain out of a molehill. But I am just being real and honest with myself. I never enjoyed blogging more than when it was only my blog and connecting with others who were finding their way forward daily in God's grace. It did not take long for it to grow from a desire to share God's word, to a need to be out there, in every social media space that is popular.
Thus, I have deleted everything. The pic above indicates fasting of social media. I can't even do that without being freaked out and constantly wanting it like a sugar rush 😞. So deleting is my option and my choice. Except for my personal instagram and I know God is working on me to let that go too. This is partly why I changed my blog's name (again - sigh) to Intentional 247. I want to be intentional in everything I do, so that God gets the glory every day in my life. Its a goal. I fail daily and no doubt will continue to fail. But already I have way more peace about all this than I did before.
Psalm 139 vs 1: Oh Lord, You have searched me and know me!
Psalm 139 vs 7: Where shall I go from Your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from Your presence?
Psalm 139 vs 23 - 24: Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! (24) And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!
God bless
Tracy
No comments:
Post a Comment