The other day when I was going through my Instagram feed I came across this post that said, “Everything is about creating that Instagrammable experience”. I thought about it for a minute and something just didn't sit right with me. I kept scrolling and later that day I found myself thinking back to that one post.
Everything cannot be about making an Instagram post.
Surely that is not all that we are focused on is making a perfect picture for people to ‘like’ or comment on. The more I thought about it the more I realized that it really is the focus of a lot of people’s life. At times I even find myself falling into the same trap, posting a picture and wondering how many likes it is going to get, spending hours thinking of the perfect caption and changing filters 15 times to make sure I look ‘Insta ready’.
How sad is that? That our society as a whole is more focused on creating the perfect selfie than actually getting involved in what is going on around us? The more I thought about how much social media has taken over our lives and moved our focus to how we portray ourselves in a post the sadder I became. However, what I realize now is that you can’t blame social media for taking over a part of our lives but rather we need to be looking at our hearts.
You see, the issue does not lie with social media, it lies with our hearts. Our hearts are lonely and craving that ‘like’. Some people will look at our generation and think, “Man, they are so selfish. Only thinking about themselves while they Snapchat and filter their life away.” But I see a much deeper issue here.
When I was in high school I wouldn’t say that I was popular by any means, but what I craved was the feeling of acceptance. Love and encouragement from my peers. To feel included and good enough. Now, let that same idea translate into social media. What do you crave the most? Likes, or hearts, from your peers or maybe even from people you don’t even know.
The feeling that someone out there accepts you and is validating your worth. You follow all these bloggers who get thousands of likes and you start to ask yourself why you aren’t beautiful like them or why you don’t get to travel to places like they do. You start to feel yourself shrinking in the feeling that you will never be good enough.
You measure your worth, beauty, and acceptance by double taps on Instagram.
Friend, I am right there with you. If one of my posts does not get as many likes as another I start questioning my worth; was I not pretty enough, was the filter bad, the caption really was kind of dumb, and the list goes on! We are putting our hope in something that will always disappoint us and leave us feeling just as empty as we were before.
If someone has not told you today let me be the first, YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL, ACCEPTED, and LOVED where you are. But don’t just take my word for it.
Ecc. 3:11 He has made everything BEAUTIFUL in its time...Whatever God has done endures forever nothing can be added to it or anything is taken away from it.
1 Timothy 4:4 For everything created by God is GOOD, and nothing is to be rejected if it received with thanksgiving for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.
Jeremiah 31:3 I have LOVED you with an everlasting LOVE; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.
And my personal favorite, Romans 5:8 “But God shows is LOVE for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
When you find yourself scrolling through Instagram looking at all the ‘perfect’ bloggers or constantly checking your notifications for how many likes you have to remind yourself that nothing can ever add or take away from your inner beauty or your salvation.
