This is part two of the Pulse student devotional for the series “Fighting FOMO.” Click here for the entire series.
Scriptures:
Romans 5:8
Jeremiah 31:3
It goes like this: just the right photo, the perfect filter, witty caption, and link to Twitter. Here we go: POST.
One hour later…28 LIKES?!
What? Whatever. I’m deleting it.
We’ve all been there. We’re in a world of over-sharers—Vine, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Periscope, Facebook—we share everything. If our culture had a current status it would be: “If you don’t share it, did it even happen?”
Why? Probably because the thing we’re actually sharing is the fear of being forgotten. We scroll through all of those statuses and pictures because we are terrified that people are living better lives than us and we don’t want to miss it. We combat fear with photos and loneliness with likes.
The thing is, all of those apps create a world that is not real. No need for FOMO, because what you’re afraid of missing out on doesn’t actually exist. That picture of the beautiful girl you wish you could look like? She gets lonely, too. The video of all your friends hanging out at a party you weren’t invited to? It’s probably not as fun as it looks. We create this fake world so we don’t have to address the real one. We over-post selfies so we don’t have to look at ourselves. We never feel full. And here’s why:
How much you’re loved has nothing to do with how much you are “liked.”
Jesus Christ is the only one who promises fullness of life and gives it. When there was absolutely nothing to “like” about us, he loved us (Romans 5:8). He gave up his own life so we could find the one we are trying so hard to gain.
The more we live from the love he has already given us and not for the likes of others, the more we realize we aren’t as thirsty for them after all. You don’t have to work to be “liked” when you realize you are already loved.
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