I recently read an article with troubling statistics about children, teens, and young adults and their addiction to social media. It spoke of the influence social media has on them and how many are finding their identity, their value, and direction for their lives in posts online.
While I wasn’t overly surprised by the article’s findings, something did occur to me while reading it. Children, teens, and young adults are not the only ones addicted to social media, and more so, they aren’t the only ones finding their worth in reactions to their posts or in what they read on these platforms. Adults of all ages are struggling with this as well.
People have cared about what others think of them and have put credence in the value others place on us from the beginning of time. This certainly isn’t new.
Are we basing our worth on things that don’t truly matter?
Is our worth found:
*in the number of “likes” on Facebook,
*the number of reposts on X (Twitter),
*the number of hearts on Instagram,
*or the number of subscribers on your YouTube channel;
*in what our family or friends think of us,
*or in how popular we are at work, at church, or at social activities?
How can we rightly decide who determines our worth?
*Everyone will have an opinion of us on any given day. Some will even share that viewpoint with us. But we need to remember not to give that much credence to another person. They do not get to dictate our worth.
*Remember that our worth is in the One who gave us worth. The Lord is only One who gets to determine how valuable we are.
*What Jesus did for us indicates our worth. Someone died for you. For me. God sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1 John 4:10). A Holy God will not send His beloved Son for atonement for those He doesn’t love deeply.
*He tells us He is for us. (Romans 8:31) One typically isn’t “for” someone they don’t think of as valuable.
*He tells of our importance to Him in many verses, including Matthew 10:31 where it states we are of more value than many sparrows.
The opinions of others, whether in person or on social media, is mortal. Instead of placing such emphasis on the fleeting thoughts of others, let’s remember God alone determines our worth. And His opinion is eternal.
Before you go, check out these other posts:
Penny Zeller 
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