Social Media and Relationships
If no one ever told you what love was, what would you think it was? It’s frightening to think that this generation may see love in a different way than it is designed to be because of technology. The common theme of picture perfect relationships is ever present via social media. Ideal couples have become the ones who utilize their social media to show each other off. Personal goals have become relationship and image oriented. We have become obsessed with the unattainable--perfection. Photos allow us to capture one another at our best; in our best moment, at the height of our looks. This is a great thing, respectively, but when we judge what our lives should be like based on our best photo during our happiest time, we are unlikely to feel the same happiness. Whenever we stray from the way that God portrays love, we are not seeing what it truly is, and it is very important that we don’t forget that. We have to remember that reality doesn’t live in our screens. We have to remember to cultivate relationships of depth, the true relationships that God wants us to have.
God places people in our lives for countless reasons. Lessons can come in the form of people, but blessings can come in the form of people as well. As we learn and grow, we begin to realize with whom we should surround ourselves. When it comes to people, we cannot afford to be lax. We must be particular; we must be wise. Proverbs 4:23 says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” We have to be gentle with our hearts and the hearts of others, being able to give God our full attention so that He can show us what and who we need. We surely cannot guard our own hearts if the people that we surround ourselves with do not see them as something to be protected. Even in the course of my young life, I have come in contact with many who did not have the intent of which the Lord paints a picture in Proverbs 4:23, and that has cost me time, peace, and heartache, as well as trust. This has allowed me to realize that I do not need to be surrounded by people who take pieces of me with them when they go. When you encounter someone who only wants to take, and does not have the intent to give selflessly, it is usually detectable. The problems come when we push away their first impressions and our own instincts. We see a deep well; we think that maybe the bottom houses the refreshing hydration that will quench our thirst, when in reality God is the only one who can. We have to start believing who people really are when they show us instead of looking at them and forming a more ideal concept of them in our minds.
Now, enough cautionary cynicism. In our lives, we will show countless people who we are. They will not all understand or even respect us, but we can still be optimistic. We will also come across people who see us for who we truly are. They see not only us, but they see our hearts and not only do they see them, but they long to treat them the way that Proverbs 4 describes. These people not only see others as the Lord’s treasures, they want to help keep these treasures safe. When you come across these people, you will have no doubt of their intentions, because they will make sure that they are clear from the start. These are the people we pray for God to deliver to us. It’s common to hear someone say, “I got lucky when I found you” or “lucky I met a friend like you,” but when he blesses us with them, it is not luck, it is divine love. It’s His love. These are the people worth waiting for; these are the people worth guarding your heart for, because they want to help you do the same, and that means more than any amount of likes on a picture on Instagram.
