By Patrick Scriven | FāVS News Staff
The views expressed in this opinion column are those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of FāVS News.
Discipline is hard, but it is a critical tool for freedom. That thought is front of mind as we enter the season of Lent.
As a parent and a communicator, I’ve been thinking for a while about social media and how these platforms are designed to trap us. They do it with endless feeds, autoplay, notifications, likes and personalized algorithms that keep serving content you’re likely to react to, so there’s no natural stopping point.
In Galatians 5, the Apostle Paul writes, “For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” The freedom we receive is a gift, but it’s also something we’re called to guard. If we aren’t paying attention, we can slowly trade it away.
That’s why social media habits matter. When people use a tracking tool, most are surprised by how much time they spend on social media and related apps. And if our use is unexamined, we’re often not choosing freely. We are being led to someone else’s gain.
Social media isn’t the only way we lose our freedom, but it’s a pervasive one. If your relationship with social media concerns you, consider the following practices.
1) Track your usage for seven days.
Turn on Screen Time (iPhone) or Digital Wellbeing (Android), and check your daily minutes on social apps. Write the number down each day. Then ask: Is this helping me live free, or quietly training me to be distracted from the world around me?
2) Consider a social media fast during Lent.
Take it on not as a punishment, but as a practice. Delete the apps, log out or set firm limits, and replace the habit with something life-giving: Scripture, prayer, a walk, a conversation with a friend or silence.
Whether you take on a social media fast or consider a different discipline, I hope the Lenten season provides you with a meaningful opportunity to know yourself better and grow deeper in your experience of the freedom God wants for us.
Holding tight to our freedom is a pathway to loving others as God loves us.
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