Is Social media our 6th love language? Despite its drawbacks, it has great potential for believers to use for Christian encouragement. Inside: 1 Corinthians 13 for social media!
The basic concept of “love languages” is that you often express love in the way you want love expressed back to you.
But this can be tricky for someone trying to use social media to offer encouragement and “reach out and touch someone.” What if they don’t reach back?
Social media CAN be used to send out love without becoming something that defines if you are loved. Here’s an analogy to put it in perspective:
If you can view it like a Frisbee, keep throwing.
If you begin to expect it to be a boomerang, you need to reassess.
I don’t think anyone starts out looking to keep a mental tally of who has liked or commented or retweeted them. It just slowly creeps up on you.
One day you’re logging on to check on your friends and give them a little techno-love and the next you’re logging on to see who loved you back.
And if you’re not careful, you progress to hitting refresh on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram like it was a morphine button.
If you get too close to the edge, it’s a slippery slope. So how do you find the main road — and stay a safe distance from the edge of the cliff?
[x_custom_headline type=”left” level=”h2″ looks_like=”h5” accent=”false”]For Christian Encouragement Advice, Siri says “Ask Paul” [/x_custom_headline]
1 Corinthians 13 just might be the modern day Google maps for navigating this terrain.
Imagine that.
Paul couldn’t have fathomed the world we live in, yet his timeless words speak to this issue of Christian encouragement. {It’s like he was inspired or something ;)}
From 1 Corinthians 13:4-6 (compiled from ESV and NASB) ~
Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous;
Love does not brag and is not arrogant or rude.
It does not seek its own.
It is not irritable or resentful.
It does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth
~ To be patient, you have to forego your desire to hurry up someone’s reply.
~ To avoid jealousy, you have to celebrate engagements or promotions or #blessed moments of others without feeling envious for your own life.
~ To keep from bragging and acting arrogantly, you have to filter “what” you post through the funnel of “why” you are posting it.
~ If you catch yourself wanting to give a rude reply because you’re irritated at someone, you need to stop all social media activities and ask for God’s help in understanding the source so you can work through it with Him and/or the other person.
~ You can’t use it to seek your own. If you ever discover that you’re giving likes, etc. just to get them in return, that’s a warning sign you’re out of step with Paul’s admonitions.
~ You can’t use it out of resentment. If you find yourself withholding a like or tweet or comment just because you’re jealous or hurt, you’re out of step as well.
~ You must be careful in what you celebrate and rejoice over in the feeds.
And finally, in the shadow of verses 1-3 and 7-13:
If you have the gift of tweeting and can express all manner of wisdom in 140 characters or less, but have not love, you’re just adding to the noise.
If you can gain thousands of friends and garner hundreds of likes on a well-filtered image of your dinner, but have not love, you’re still empty and alone.
If you can post the funniest of memes and pin the cleverest of sayings, but have not love, you deserve to be filtered out by the algorithm.
Because after all is liked, favorited, tweeted, posted, and pinned, they will pass through the feeds never to be seen again but love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends. As for social media, it will morph and move on.
We can’t imagine what the future will hold for the platforms, just like we couldn’t foresee why in the world someone would want to tweet nor comprehend the vastness of emojis.
As we look ourselves in the selfie, we must grow up and act like mature believers ~ even with social media. Now we know in part, but one day we will be fully known and our posts and tweets and comments will be laid out before us.
Connecting is good. Ministry is worthy. But the greatest of these is love.
[clickToTweet tweet=”Connecting is good. Ministry is worthy. But the greatest of these is love.” quote=”Connecting is good. Ministry is worthy. But the greatest of these is love.”]
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50 responses to “Is social media our 6th love language?”
I love technology and the way it can bring people together, promote causes and other positive influences, and offer another way to encourage. Of course, there are negative things about that it, but that’s with anything, really. I really like this post and it’s prompted me to think – which is always good. :) Thanks for linking up at #ThreeWordWednesday … last week, even if I’m a little slow getting by!
Thanks, Kristin!
Love this post!!! I have a friend who needs love via social media. It’s not necessarily her love language, but it plays into it in a major way.
Thank you!
This was a great post and a nice analogy with the love languages. I do agree that social media has it’s positives and negatives and that to be cognizant and mindful of the continuum is important. Personally, I don’t really use social media any more. I just don’t want or like some of the happenings there, the blatant attacks, the misunderstanding, the lack of truth (at times), so I stopped. We’re also not big on putting everything out there, so to speak.
As a blogger, I do use social media, and it’s strictly for that. I use it to promote my work, others’ work, and to connect in more meaningful ways. I know I’ve connected and met some great people as a result of being a blogger and subsequently a blogger with social media accounts/activity. I also know that I don’t have to ‘go there’ with others via social media if I don’t want to or am uncomfortable, still without filtering myself too much (or at all) or losing myself and my authenticity. :)
You are so right. As a blogger, it’s almost a requirement if you want to send your message forward and support those who are doing the same. But finding the balance is indeed tricky and so personal. And I also think it is dependent on seasons in life and in what God is doing. Thank you for such a thoughtful comment!
I love this and I love the analogy:
“If you can view it like a Frisbee, keep throwing.
If you begin to expect it to be a boomerang, you need to reassess.”
I pinned that to my Deliberate BLOGGING board because that’s fabulous.
I have a friend who’s a university professor and she uses Twitter to connect with her students all the time. I think it’s a fantastic tool.
I sometimes have to step away. I’ve in tune with when social media is rubbing me the wrong way.
Thanks for sharing (and for linking up to the #SHINEbloghop).
Wishing you a lovely day.
xoxo
I LOVE your blog hop! Thanks for all this sweet affirmation!
Hi, Christi! This is my first time to your blog, and I’m so glad Grace & Truth brought me here! This post is thoughtful, relatable, and truthful. You provide such critical guidance for all of us Christ-followers who are wading through these relatively fresh waters called “social media.” Thank you for sharing your wisdom with us, that we might follow your Cheerio trail, as you’re following Christ’s. :) I’m happy to feature this post at A Divine Encounter on Friday!
I just accepted your FB friend request before seeing this. What a sweet encouragement this is and you are. It’s been a rough couple of days and I’m thankful for the hug God sent via you. Looking forward to knowing you better… and just saw that you are in Roanoke. I’m in Lynchburg. You just might be the first online friend for which coffee is actually an option in the future!