Let’s face it. Being a Christian in a digital world can be pretty hard sometimes. If you’re one of the few people who’s successfully found a balance then good for you! If you’re not, then you’re often only one “ping!” away from putting off your devotions to engage in idle chit chat instead. And while self-control is a Fruit of the Spirit, I wouldn’t beat myself up over that either.
Cellphones, Computers, all forms of social media, and websites are designed to mess with your head psychologically to keep you actively using them. They all use complex algorithms to display things that are known to keep you pleased and entertained in order to legally gather your data as a user and sell them to other companies so that they can do the same. However, there are a few ways we can actually use their algorithms for our Spiritual Development instead. Here are 5 ways we can use technology for Spiritual Development.
#1.) Unfollowing People and Pages
No. You don’t have to unfriend them but unfollowing is a different story. Unfollowing your friends allow you to enjoy the perks of Facebook, Instagram, and whatever other social media site you use without the addictive behavior. See your newsfeed is often filled with a variety of different posts from friends and different people you probably don’t even know. Unfollowing these people creates a completely blank newsfeed. There’s nothing to view. You then have the power to control exactly what appears on your feed by liking and following the pages and people you do want to hear and see from.
#2.) Join Online Groups and Communities
While social media might be one of the sole purposes of us being completely unproductive mentally, physically, and spiritually, if it’s used the right way, it can actually allow us to engage in more Spiritual activities than ever. There are a lot of online pages and accountability groups that allow us to meet with other people and engage in online meetings to have Bible studies, prayer sessions, worship sessions, and so on. You can join these groups by simply searching for keywords like “Bible Study” on Facebook and a number of different groups with different descriptions will pop up. Joining them and liking pages of the same type will also fill up your newsfeed with Godly things as well!
#3.) Subscribe to Godly pages on YouTube
I am a YouTube addict. Seriously, I can spend hours upon hours just watching YouTube videos all day. However, I realized the things I used to watch were really not helping me advance to where I wanted to be and I decided to change that. If you’re anything like me consider doing this. Unsubscribe from the pages that has nothing to do with a Godly lifestyle, Unsubscribe from the pages that do not challenge your thinking or inspire you to do more with your life, and subscribe to the ones that do! If you’re going to spend hours on YouTube, let it be on videos that encourage you to work on yourself. The screenshot above contains some of my favorite channels to tune in to. A few more are:
The Bible Project, Lion of Judah, Motiversity, Be Inspired, Gospel Thoughts, and really, this list could go on and on.
#4.) Download Godly Applications
What type of apps are you constantly using on your phone? Have you considered adding apps that can help you grow as a Christian to that list? There are a variety of apps out there that provides sermons, resources, podcasts, and more that can really help feed your Spirit. A few of my favorite are: The YouVersion Bible App (the famous virtual Bible), Got Questions? (Perfect for answering all the hard questions from an unbiased and purely biblical standpoint), Abide (Ever thought of actually meditating on the Word? This app is for Christian meditations), Scripture Labs (Another virtual Bible app, however, this one provides videos to further break down scriptures to their core), Grace to You Sermons (This app provides sermons right to your fingertips), and Verses (An app to help you learn and memorize scripture).
#5.) Utilize your Calendar and Note apps
Often times, we tend to get caught up in doing so many tasks that we forget to engage in devotions, worship time, or prayer time with God and that’s where the simple applications like your calendar or alarms come in. They’re not only useful for birthday reminders! You can set schedules and reminders on your phone to keep your Spiritual life consistent. You can also utilize your note-keeping app to type up revelations, prayers, and verses that came to mind during the day. (This is especially recommended for people like me who damage or lose their books all the time)
Conclusion
When misused, technology can cause us all to become quite unproductive and focused on all the wrong things. However, we can utilize our devices in a way where we can enjoy their benefits without all the addictive behavior. Technology doesn’t have to make your Christian life harder or stomp all over your Spiritual development, you have the power to control what you expose yourself to. Use it!
