Luke 12:6-7 New Living Translation (NLT)

6 “What is the price of five sparrows—two copper coins[a]? Yet God does not forget a single one of them. 7 And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.

For the second time in the last few years God has asked me to fast social media. On both occasions, He has been faithful to show me the reason why- after I have disengaged from it for a period of time. After the first fast, which lasted approximately 2 months, I realized that God had protected me- and my marriage from potential disaster. I had reconnected with “friends” on Facebook, and what had started out as a harmless walk down memory lane quickly turned into an open door for the enemy to wreak havoc. Unbeknownst to me, some of these “friends” had feelings for me when we were younger; that they had never expressed…and now that both of us were married to other people, I suppose they thought it was ok to spill the beans. I don’t believe their words were meant with malicious intent, but the Holy Spirit quickly warned me to log off and tell my husband what had transpired. Not long after the fast started, my mind began to wander back to the good old days of doing whatever I wanted, with whomever I wanted. And where the mind goes- the heart follows…..

I subsequently began feeling disconnected from my husband and wondered what life would had been like had I married someone else….these thoughts even invaded my dreams as I began to relive numerous dating relationships with young men that I had given my heart- and sometimes, my body to.

During the time of fasting, the Lord wanted to take me back to several of the places where I had disobeyed His commands, allowing the enemy to steal, kill and destroy the ONEness of my relationship with Doug, long before we even married. As a result of my confession & repentance, God began to restore and redeem what was broken, as a result of my sin.

My current social media fast came as a result of me feeling disgruntled every time I read other peoples tweets or posts. Yet, I constantly wanted to keep checking the latest news feed multiple times a day!!! That vicious cycle lasted, regrettably, way too long. Eventually, I chose to obey God by logging off and deleting the apps from my phone, because I knew if I saw the notification numbers begin to rise, I would be tempted to just “check” and see if there was something critical I was missing.

Two to three weeks passed before God revealed the root of my anger. Not surprisingly, it wasn’t even related to the people in whom I was becoming offended!!! I repented to Him, and to my husband (I had also become irritated with him…) and began the process of allowing the Holy Spirit to help me forgive the one whom I was really angry at.

Social media is a powerful tool. It can be used for good- or evil. It can be a way for us to reconnect with others whom we don’t get to see on a regular basis, or it can cause us to be judgmental of the things others say, or do. It can be a way for us to encourage one another, or it can be used to make us feel unworthy, unaccepted or even unloved.

It can be used to affirm our relationship with our spouse, or it can be used to bash our husband or wife publicly so that others will think we are never to blame for the issues in our marriage.

The questions we must ask ourselves is:

Are we looking to social media to fill a void in our lives that only God can fill?

Are we getting our value from others, or from Him?

“Our true value is God’s estimate of our worth, not our peers’ estimate. Other people evaluate and categorize us according to how we perform, what we achieve, and how we look. But God cares for us, as he does for all his creatures, because we belong to him. Thus, we can face life without fear; we are very valuable to God.”

–Life Application Study Bible, in reference to Luke 12:6-7