Okay, confession time.

On Sunday I began a sermon series entitled #Selfie. Essentially the theme of the series is how do we, as Christians, continue to faithfully follow Jesus in a Self(ie)-centred world.

Week number one was on CONTENTMENT and how easy it is to become discontent in our own lives. This is especially true as we scroll the newsfeed on Facebook or see the pictures on Instagram and compare our lives to those who are seemingly more beautiful, more successful and certainly having way more fun

I made a point, on Sunday, of saying that we need to Stop Comparing ourselves to others.

James 3:14-16 says,

But if you harbour bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.

Wow, James makes it pretty clear that envy is not at all cool.

Stop comparing. I also made the point of saying that we need to Be Grateful in what God has blessed us with.

Proverbs 15:15 says, “for the despondent, every day brings trouble; but for the happy heart, life is a continual feast.”

And Solomon says this in Ecclesiastes 6:9: “Enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don’t have.” NLT

Good word, right? That’s what I preached about on Sunday. Then guess what I did?

On a sunny Monday, I went on Facebook. And boy oh boy, if I didn’t turn green with envy when I saw what a friend was up to that day. They had posted that they were at the airport heading to an exotic location, a location that Brian and I have for years wanted to travel to but have found it cost prohibitive.

“But they’re going,” I thought to myself. “It’s not fair. We’ve wanted to go there forever!”

And there she was. I recognized her right away. Oh, sure I was happy for them. I really was. But there was the Green-eyed-monster in all her glory. I was so jealous.

I signed out of Facebook and began to laugh. Then I shared with my family members (who are quite accustomed to me laughing out loud to myself) what had just happened.

Tyler suggested that I listen to my sermon again.

“Thanks for that”, I said.

Life was a little simpler before social media. Certainly there were less distractions and all I knew was what I was having for dinner, not the meals of fifty others. Don’t get me wrong. Social media is amazing. It has attracted the masses because we benefit from the information, the inspiration and the incredible ability to connect with others. But you and I both know, with it are also some pitfalls.

So how do we glorify God and represent God well in a world where social media can unintentionally upset our good intentions?

I believe if we have a healthy perspective and celebrate with those on our timeline, social media can be fun. But if it’s tempting us toward an attitude that moves us away from God then perhaps we need to glorify God by intentionally logging off Facebook for a while and intentionally logging back into God. That’s what I needed to do :)

Join us on Sunday as we continue the conversation.

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Please remember that this Sunday is our Annual General Meeting. This is an important meeting for all members of Amberlea to attend. The meeting will take place immediately following the service. A light lunch will be provided!