January 21, 2025 • 19 mins
In a world of endless scrolling and curated highlight reels, staying connected to God’s voice can feel nearly impossible. Social media is a powerful tool, but it’s also one of the loudest and most distracting spaces we navigate daily.
In this episode of What’s God Got To Do With It?, Leanne gets real about the impact social media has on our hearts, minds, and faith walks. From the comparison trap to the constant stream of noise, she breaks down how these digital habits affect our relationship with God—and how we can take steps to reclaim peace and clarity.
Join Leanne as she shares her own struggles with social media, relatable client stories, and actionable steps to navigate faith in the digital age. Discover how to:
- Quiet the noise by setting boundaries and curating your feed with intention.
- Use social media as a tool for faith instead of letting it be a source of anxiety.
- Create space for stillness to reconnect with God’s voice.
- Find freedom in prioritizing God’s truth over the endless chatter of the online world.
HOST: Leanne Ellington // StresslessEating.com // @leanneellington
To learn more about Leanne, head over to www.LeanneEllington.com, and to share your thoughts, questions, feedback, or guest suggestions instantly, head on over to www.WhatsGodGotToDoWithIt.com.
Follow Leanne on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leanneellington/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
If you want to go on a journey. If you're skeptical,
don't worry. Now here to preach. Gonna keep it clean
and talk to me and recall where faith needs, files
of nature and get in touch with your creator with
a bacon, love and jew She even speaks Hebrew. What's that? Danzato?
(00:31):
What's that? As well? Sabosation? We should talking transformation? What's that?
Don satu?
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Hey, hey, and welcome.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Back to What's God got to do with it?
Speaker 2 (00:47):
It is me Leanne Ellington, and today we're diving into
a topic that I think we all probably need to
talk about, which is faith in the digital age. And yeah,
we're tackling the big one, how to find God's voice
inside of that endless noise of social media. And now,
I don't know about you, but I found myself in
(01:07):
that rabbit hole more times than I can count, Like
you probably know the one I'm talking about, scrolling through
Instagram or Facebook, hopping from story to story, post to post,
and at first you're just you know, I'm catching up.
I'm catching up all what my friends are doing and
what's going on in my family's world. But then out
of nowhere, this heaviness settles in and sometimes it's comparison,
(01:29):
and sometimes it's overwhelmed, and sometimes it's this weird mix
of feeling, you know, connected to everyone's curated highlights, but
somehow feeling completely alone in that moment at the same time, right,
like two things can be true at the same time.
And so if you have felt that you are so
not alone, and my clients used to come to me
saying the same thing, like, leanne, I don't even realize
(01:50):
how much social media is affecting me until I try
to unplug. And so let me tell you that the
struggle is real, and social media is one of the loudest,
most distracting spaces that we navigate today. And it's also
full of opinions and perfectly edited highlight.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
Reels and endless noise.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
And in the middle of all of that, hearing God's
voice can feel, you know, almost impossible. But here is
the good news. God's voice isn't drowned out by the noise.
We just have to learn how to tune in and
how to prioritize his truth over the chatter, and how
to navigate this digital age without losing sight of him.
(02:30):
So let's talk about that. Let's talk about how to
stay grounded in God's truth and how to quiet the noise,
and how to actually use social media as a tool
for faith rather than a distraction. And before we dive
into scripture, I want to share something that's been going
on in my life recently. And I do this from
time to time, and it's my own little dopamine detox experiment.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
So I just want to share.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
You know, I didn't completely break up with social media,
but I did something that felt both radical and necessary.
I deleted the apps from my phone, and so no
more instant gratification, no more endless scrolling, just me, myself
and a whole lot of open space. And I wanted
to see what that felt like when I stepped back
(03:16):
a bit, like not entirely disconnected from the world, but
enough to allow God's voice to be more present and
to actually hear my own thoughts without the constant noise.
And let me tell you, it has been eye opening.
And so here's the key. It wasn't just about what
I was removing from my life. It was about what
(03:36):
I was replacing that time and energy with instead. And
so I decided to fill those moments with things that
truly nourished me like reading and praying and journaling and
real conversations and simply being present with God, and the
difference was huge. Okay, now, I'll be totally honest. I'm
still figuring out exactly what I want to say about
(03:58):
this experience and how I really, you know, feel it
best serves me to interact with social media going forward.
And the apps are still not on my phone right
and I actually did experiment. I put them back on,
and I actually decided to take them back off, and
I don't, you know, plan to cut them out of
my life entirely. I'm just being super mindful and discerning
about how I engage with them. And so if you've
(04:20):
ever felt that nudge to step back and recalibrate, especially
if you catch yourself kind of drowning out God's whispers
and God's notifications, I a thousand percent recommend trying a
little bit of a dopamine detox on your own. Okay,
now let's talk about what God says about navigating a noisy,
distracting world. So first let's look at Psalm forty six
(04:43):
y ten, where it says be still and know that
I am God. And it is such a simple invitation
and the simplest ones are the easiest to overlook, but
it kind of feels radical in a world that never
stops moving, and God calls us to pause and to
breathe and to create space for Him in the middle
of the chaos. Then there's Romans twelve two, which says,
(05:06):
do not conform to the pattern of this world, but
be transformed by the renewing of your mind. And this
one hits me hard every single time. Renewing of my mind,
renewing of my mind, and social media pulls us into
the patterns of this world, you know, comparison and competition
and constant busyness. But God calls us to something different, renewal.
(05:29):
He calls us to renew our minds, and he calls
us to fix our thoughts on His truth, not the
endless scroll of this you know, perfectly curated content. So
how do we do that? Well, the first step is
to simply be honest about your social media habits, and
so Psalm sixty to eight says trust in Him at
all times, you people, pour out your hearts to Him,
(05:52):
for God is our refuge. Now let's talk about this
for a second, because it is so relevant to where
we are right now, and we pour our hearts out
to God. We're not giving him some polished, perfect version
of ourselves. We're bringing the messy, unfiltered truth of what's
going on inside us, and we're bringing it to him.
(06:13):
And isn't that kind of what social media often pulls
us away from?
Speaker 3 (06:17):
Right?
Speaker 2 (06:18):
So social media in like for a lot of us,
it makes us put up a front, right, or we're
watching people that are putting up a front, or you know,
we curate the highlights and post the victories and hide
the struggles. But God doesn't want our highlight reel. He
wants our whole heart, you know, messy and raw and real.
And so when it comes to your social media habits,
(06:39):
start by just being honest with God, Like, are you
using social media as an escape from real life? Or
are you comparing your behind the scenes to someone else's
edited real or they're edited reality?
Speaker 1 (06:52):
Right?
Speaker 2 (06:52):
And are you letting the noise crowd out your ability
to hear his voice? So that's where I just invite
you to take it to him and trust that he
can handle your struggles, and trust that he's your refuge
even when you feel overwhelmed by the pressure to keep
up or the shame of how much time you've spent scrolling.
So the next step is to set boundaries around your
(07:14):
screen time. And so Matthew six thirty three says, but
seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these
things will be given to you as well. And I
love this verse because it's a reminder of what's truly important.
And social media often tempts us to put everything else first,
like likes and followers and trends and opinions are just
(07:36):
unknowingly putting mindlessness first, right, But Jesus tells us to
seek God's kingdom first, not after you've checked your notifications,
and not after you've posted that perfect picture, but first.
And when you start your day scrolling, you're letting social
media set the tone for your thoughts and your mood
and even your self worth. But when you start with God,
(07:59):
your grounding yourself in His truth, and you're saying, God,
your voice matters more than the noise of this world,
and lead me today like I want you to lead
me today, not my news feed. And this is why
I started practicing what I call God Time in the mornings,
where before I open my emails or social media or anything.
(08:23):
I make my mushroom tea and I sit there with
my pups and I read the Word. And lately I
actually created my own document full of thoughts that I
want to remember first thing, and then there's scripture that
goes with each thought. But I kind of did that
to set myself up not to have to think, and
so I let this document in God's Word do the
(08:43):
thinking for me. So I kind of like left myself
breadcrumbs in the morning because I know that that's what
serves me best to just kind of take the thinking
out of it for me, and so I do that.
I sit there, I drink my mushroom tea with my pups,
and I just go through that document. It takes me
like five or ten minutes, and I'm just reading it
out loud. I'm praying into it, and it's just stuff
that I can update and evolve as I go. But
(09:04):
it's right now in the moment what I need to
hear first thing, and that might be different next week,
so I again, I update it and evolve it. It's
a Google doc, but that's how I start my day,
and the next I just spend about ten minutes journaling
with God. So sometimes it literally starts with like, Okay, God,
I'm here. I'm in full surrender. I don't even know
it to write, but like I need you right now.
(09:24):
Or sometimes I say God, like what do you want
me to know about myself today? Or what do you
want me to know about the fear and anxiety that
I'm feeling? Or what do you want me to know
about how loved I am?
Speaker 1 (09:35):
Right?
Speaker 2 (09:36):
And I just let God speak to me through my pen,
And then I have a worship playlist that I put
on while I'm at the gym. So first I'm reading,
then I'm writing, and then I'm moving my body with
God first thing in the morning. And that part of
my day does not get hijacked by anyone or anything else.
(09:57):
It's it's really that sacred time. And I honestly know
how crappy I feel when I don't do it like
it has been a game changer for me, And when
I think about it, literally, in the time that I
spend reading and writing and moving my body, if I
wasn't mindful, I could literally have spent that whole time
being sucked down a rabbit hole on my phone, right,
And so I just changed the priority of how I
(10:20):
spend my time and start my day. And the simple
act of prioritizing God over my phone just sets the
tone for my entire day. So here's my challenge to you.
What's one way that you can seek God first in
your daily routine.
Speaker 3 (10:36):
Maybe it's starting your day with.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
A devotional instead of social media, or maybe it's putting
your phone on airplane mode until after your quiet time.
Whatever it looks like for you, just make it a priority.
(10:58):
Step three is to curate your feed within tension. And
so Proverbs four twenty three says, above all else, guard
your heart, for everything you do flows from it. And
so your heart is the epicenter of your life. It's
where your thoughts, your emotions, and your decisions all flow from.
(11:19):
And social media has direct access to that source. And
so every post you scroll past, and every story you watch,
and every comment that you read, it is all pouring
into your heart in some way. And so if you're
not intentional about what you're consuming, you're letting the world
dictate what fills your heart. And so one of my clients, Sarah,
(11:42):
realized this when she kind of just took a little
inventory of her feed and she was following influencers who
made her feel and I say made her feel, but
like cause that feeling inside of her by following her
she felt inadequate and she felt like her friends always
seemed to have this like perfect life and accounts that
stirred up anxiety rather than peace. And here's the thing,
(12:04):
I know, it's all about taking ownership, Like our perception
of what's being fed to us is our is our responsibility? Right,
But again, if you look at it and you're like, Okay,
I'm taking responsibility for it, I'm going to do the
work on myself, but just knowing that while I'm doing that,
I'm being influenced in this direction and it doesn't feel
really good. And to boot for her specifically, it was
reinforcing the diet mentality or that binge restrict cycle that
(12:28):
she came to me to help her with, and so
every time she opened her app it was kind of
like a little hit to her self worth. But when
Sarah started curating her feed with intention, everything shifted, and
so she unfollowed the noise and filled her feed with
accounts that uplifted her and versus and devotionals and encouraging
(12:49):
words and guess what, her heart started to feel later.
Now here's the other side of this. If you feel penetrable,
if you can look at something on social media and
it may makes you feel crappy about yourself, if it
makes you feel less that, if it hits your self worth, Yes,
curating your feed is going to be helpful so that
you're not putting yourself in the line of fire. But
(13:12):
what I also really encourage is that you want to
address the actual self image and self worth that's causing
you to be penetrable like that. It's got to be both.
So I just wanted to say that as well. So
here's my question for you. Is your feed drawing you
closer to God or pulling you further away? And so
just take inventory because influence is influence. So is it
(13:34):
positively influencing you or is it negatively influencing you? And
I do invite you to start unfollowing anyone that breeds
comparison or anxiety or discouragement, because it's about guarding your
heart and filling it with content that points you back
to Him. The next step is to create space for stillness,
(13:56):
and Luke five point sixteen says, but Jesus often with
drew to lonely places and prayed. And I love this
like Jesus did it, so it must be important like
he went and found that solitude, And so think about it, Jesus.
You know, God in human form was constantly surrounded by
people who needed him, but he made it a priority
(14:18):
to step away and to be alone and to pray.
And so if Jesus needed that time of stillness, how
much more do we need?
Speaker 1 (14:25):
Right?
Speaker 2 (14:26):
And social media it never stops. It's a twenty four
to seven stream of content and opinions and notifications, and
if we're not careful, we can lose ourselves in it.
And that's why creating space for stillness is so critical.
And for me, that looked like, you know, taking regular
social media fasts or even mini breaks like I mentioned
(14:47):
in my dopamine detox anecdote and removing those apps from
my phone kind of forced me to fill my time
with more nourishing activities. Or I guess it didn't force me.
Speaker 3 (14:55):
I chose that.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
Right, and those moments of stillness ended up being some
of the most life giving steps in my faith journey.
And so maybe for you, it's stepping away from your
phone during meal times or setting aside fifteen minutes a
day to unplug and pray whatever it looks like. Make
stillness a regular part of your routine.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
Step five is to use social media as a tool
for faith.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
All right.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Matthew five sixteen says, let your light shine before others
that they may see your good deeds and glorify your
Father in heaven. And so here's the beautiful flip side
of this. Social media doesn't have to be just a distraction.
It can be a platform for connecting with others who
are sharing God's love and spreading encouragement and pointing people
(15:45):
to Him. Or that might be something that you actually
feel called into stepping into, Like maybe you want to
show up on your own social media feed in a
way that influences others. And so one of my favorite
things about social media is seeing how God, God uses
it to connect his people. And I've seen women share
their testimonies and post verses that spoke to their hearts
(16:07):
and encourage others in ways that ripple far beyond their screen.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
Right.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
And so here's my challenge to you, how can you
use your social media as a tool for faith? And
so maybe it's looking for people to follow that are
sharing scripture or messages that are meaningful to you. Maybe
it's finding people who are posting about how God is
working in their lives right, Or maybe it's as simple
as leaving an encouraging comment on somebody else's post. Right,
(16:34):
find the light that is shining from the digital world
and find people who are using their platform, or you know,
use your own if you want, no matter how big
or small it is, to just glorify God and draw
others close to him. And so the bottom line is,
you know, social media isn't inherently good or bad. It's
just a tool or it can be a weapon, depending
(16:54):
on how you use it. That's what makes the difference.
And without intentionality, it can distract us and discourage us
and drown out God's voice. But with a little discernment
and maybe even a little dopamine detox clear your headspace,
it can become a vibrant space to share hope and
build community and honor the one who never stops pursuing us.
(17:18):
And Psalm forty six to ten says, be still and
know that I am God. And in a world that
never stops moving, God invites us to pause and to
breathe and reconnect with him, and that, my friend, is
what's really at the heart of it all. So take
a step back this week and reflect on how social
media is shaping your heart and mind, and maybe experiment
(17:41):
with your own many dopamine detos if you feel that
nudge in your spirit. And above all, remember his voice
is always there. We just have to quiet the noise
and lean in. And so until next time, thank you
for tuning in, and we will be back with more
of the God Pod next week. Bye.
Speaker 3 (18:02):
We'll be back with more What's God Got to Do
with It?
Speaker 2 (18:04):
But in the meantime, I would definitely love to hear
from you, so just tell me where you are in
your story or maybe what questions you have, like where
do you feel you need clarity or support or wisdom
in your own journey. I definitely want to hear from you,
So head on over to What's God Got to Do
with It dot com and scroll down to the form
(18:25):
to share your thoughts, your questions, your feedback, and you
can do that instantly.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
So What's God Got to Do with It? Dot com?
You'll find all the ways to do that.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
And if you like this podcast and want to hear more,
go ahead and follow, like, and subscribe wherever you listen
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Speaker 3 (18:43):
Of What's God Got to Do With It?
Speaker 2 (18:45):
New episodes drop every single Tuesday, and while you're there, be.
Speaker 3 (18:49):
Sure to rate and review to show your support. It
really means so much.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
What's God Got to Do With It is an iHeartRadio
podcast on the Amy Brown Podcast Network.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
It's written and
Speaker 2 (19:01):
Hosted by me Leanne Ellington, executive produced by Elizabeth Fozio,
post production and editing by Houston Tilley, and original music
written by Cheryl Stark and produced by Adam Stark
If you want to go on a journey. If you're skeptical,
don't worry. Now here to preach. Gonna keep it clean
and talk to me and recall where faith needs, files
of nature and get in touch with your creator with
a bacon, love and jew She even speaks Hebrew. What's that? Danzato?
(00:31):
What's that? As well? Sabosation? We should talking transformation? What's that?
Don satu?
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Hey, hey, and welcome.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Back to What's God got to do with it?
Speaker 2 (00:47):
It is me Leanne Ellington, and today we're diving into
a topic that I think we all probably need to
talk about, which is faith in the digital age. And yeah,
we're tackling the big one, how to find God's voice
inside of that endless noise of social media. And now,
I don't know about you, but I found myself in
(01:07):
that rabbit hole more times than I can count, Like
you probably know the one I'm talking about, scrolling through
Instagram or Facebook, hopping from story to story, post to post,
and at first you're just you know, I'm catching up.
I'm catching up all what my friends are doing and
what's going on in my family's world. But then out
of nowhere, this heaviness settles in and sometimes it's comparison,
(01:29):
and sometimes it's overwhelmed, and sometimes it's this weird mix
of feeling, you know, connected to everyone's curated highlights, but
somehow feeling completely alone in that moment at the same time, right,
like two things can be true at the same time.
And so if you have felt that you are so
not alone, and my clients used to come to me
saying the same thing, like, leanne, I don't even realize
(01:50):
how much social media is affecting me until I try
to unplug. And so let me tell you that the
struggle is real, and social media is one of the loudest,
most distracting spaces that we navigate today. And it's also
full of opinions and perfectly edited highlight.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
Reels and endless noise.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
And in the middle of all of that, hearing God's
voice can feel, you know, almost impossible. But here is
the good news. God's voice isn't drowned out by the noise.
We just have to learn how to tune in and
how to prioritize his truth over the chatter, and how
to navigate this digital age without losing sight of him.
(02:30):
So let's talk about that. Let's talk about how to
stay grounded in God's truth and how to quiet the noise,
and how to actually use social media as a tool
for faith rather than a distraction. And before we dive
into scripture, I want to share something that's been going
on in my life recently. And I do this from
time to time, and it's my own little dopamine detox experiment.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
So I just want to share.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
You know, I didn't completely break up with social media,
but I did something that felt both radical and necessary.
I deleted the apps from my phone, and so no
more instant gratification, no more endless scrolling, just me, myself
and a whole lot of open space. And I wanted
to see what that felt like when I stepped back
(03:16):
a bit, like not entirely disconnected from the world, but
enough to allow God's voice to be more present and
to actually hear my own thoughts without the constant noise.
And let me tell you, it has been eye opening.
And so here's the key. It wasn't just about what
I was removing from my life. It was about what
(03:36):
I was replacing that time and energy with instead. And
so I decided to fill those moments with things that
truly nourished me like reading and praying and journaling and
real conversations and simply being present with God, and the
difference was huge. Okay, now, I'll be totally honest. I'm
still figuring out exactly what I want to say about
(03:58):
this experience and how I really, you know, feel it
best serves me to interact with social media going forward.
And the apps are still not on my phone right
and I actually did experiment. I put them back on,
and I actually decided to take them back off, and
I don't, you know, plan to cut them out of
my life entirely. I'm just being super mindful and discerning
about how I engage with them. And so if you've
(04:20):
ever felt that nudge to step back and recalibrate, especially
if you catch yourself kind of drowning out God's whispers
and God's notifications, I a thousand percent recommend trying a
little bit of a dopamine detox on your own. Okay,
now let's talk about what God says about navigating a noisy,
distracting world. So first let's look at Psalm forty six
(04:43):
y ten, where it says be still and know that
I am God. And it is such a simple invitation
and the simplest ones are the easiest to overlook, but
it kind of feels radical in a world that never
stops moving, and God calls us to pause and to
breathe and to create space for Him in the middle
of the chaos. Then there's Romans twelve two, which says,
(05:06):
do not conform to the pattern of this world, but
be transformed by the renewing of your mind. And this
one hits me hard every single time. Renewing of my mind,
renewing of my mind, and social media pulls us into
the patterns of this world, you know, comparison and competition
and constant busyness. But God calls us to something different, renewal.
(05:29):
He calls us to renew our minds, and he calls
us to fix our thoughts on His truth, not the
endless scroll of this you know, perfectly curated content. So
how do we do that? Well, the first step is
to simply be honest about your social media habits, and
so Psalm sixty to eight says trust in Him at
all times, you people, pour out your hearts to Him,
(05:52):
for God is our refuge. Now let's talk about this
for a second, because it is so relevant to where
we are right now, and we pour our hearts out
to God. We're not giving him some polished, perfect version
of ourselves. We're bringing the messy, unfiltered truth of what's
going on inside us, and we're bringing it to him.
(06:13):
And isn't that kind of what social media often pulls
us away from?
Speaker 3 (06:17):
Right?
Speaker 2 (06:18):
So social media in like for a lot of us,
it makes us put up a front, right, or we're
watching people that are putting up a front, or you know,
we curate the highlights and post the victories and hide
the struggles. But God doesn't want our highlight reel. He
wants our whole heart, you know, messy and raw and real.
And so when it comes to your social media habits,
(06:39):
start by just being honest with God, Like, are you
using social media as an escape from real life? Or
are you comparing your behind the scenes to someone else's
edited real or they're edited reality?
Speaker 1 (06:52):
Right?
Speaker 2 (06:52):
And are you letting the noise crowd out your ability
to hear his voice? So that's where I just invite
you to take it to him and trust that he
can handle your struggles, and trust that he's your refuge
even when you feel overwhelmed by the pressure to keep
up or the shame of how much time you've spent scrolling.
So the next step is to set boundaries around your
(07:14):
screen time. And so Matthew six thirty three says, but
seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these
things will be given to you as well. And I
love this verse because it's a reminder of what's truly important.
And social media often tempts us to put everything else first,
like likes and followers and trends and opinions are just
(07:36):
unknowingly putting mindlessness first, right, But Jesus tells us to
seek God's kingdom first, not after you've checked your notifications,
and not after you've posted that perfect picture, but first.
And when you start your day scrolling, you're letting social
media set the tone for your thoughts and your mood
and even your self worth. But when you start with God,
(07:59):
your grounding yourself in His truth, and you're saying, God,
your voice matters more than the noise of this world,
and lead me today like I want you to lead
me today, not my news feed. And this is why
I started practicing what I call God Time in the mornings,
where before I open my emails or social media or anything.
(08:23):
I make my mushroom tea and I sit there with
my pups and I read the Word. And lately I
actually created my own document full of thoughts that I
want to remember first thing, and then there's scripture that
goes with each thought. But I kind of did that
to set myself up not to have to think, and
so I let this document in God's Word do the
(08:43):
thinking for me. So I kind of like left myself
breadcrumbs in the morning because I know that that's what
serves me best to just kind of take the thinking
out of it for me, and so I do that.
I sit there, I drink my mushroom tea with my pups,
and I just go through that document. It takes me
like five or ten minutes, and I'm just reading it
out loud. I'm praying into it, and it's just stuff
that I can update and evolve as I go. But
(09:04):
it's right now in the moment what I need to
hear first thing, and that might be different next week,
so I again, I update it and evolve it. It's
a Google doc, but that's how I start my day,
and the next I just spend about ten minutes journaling
with God. So sometimes it literally starts with like, Okay, God,
I'm here. I'm in full surrender. I don't even know
it to write, but like I need you right now.
(09:24):
Or sometimes I say God, like what do you want
me to know about myself today? Or what do you
want me to know about the fear and anxiety that
I'm feeling? Or what do you want me to know
about how loved I am?
Speaker 1 (09:35):
Right?
Speaker 2 (09:36):
And I just let God speak to me through my pen,
And then I have a worship playlist that I put
on while I'm at the gym. So first I'm reading,
then I'm writing, and then I'm moving my body with
God first thing in the morning. And that part of
my day does not get hijacked by anyone or anything else.
(09:57):
It's it's really that sacred time. And I honestly know
how crappy I feel when I don't do it like
it has been a game changer for me, And when
I think about it, literally, in the time that I
spend reading and writing and moving my body, if I
wasn't mindful, I could literally have spent that whole time
being sucked down a rabbit hole on my phone, right,
And so I just changed the priority of how I
(10:20):
spend my time and start my day. And the simple
act of prioritizing God over my phone just sets the
tone for my entire day. So here's my challenge to you.
What's one way that you can seek God first in
your daily routine.
Speaker 3 (10:36):
Maybe it's starting your day with.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
A devotional instead of social media, or maybe it's putting
your phone on airplane mode until after your quiet time.
Whatever it looks like for you, just make it a priority.
(10:58):
Step three is to curate your feed within tension. And
so Proverbs four twenty three says, above all else, guard
your heart, for everything you do flows from it. And
so your heart is the epicenter of your life. It's
where your thoughts, your emotions, and your decisions all flow from.
(11:19):
And social media has direct access to that source. And
so every post you scroll past, and every story you watch,
and every comment that you read, it is all pouring
into your heart in some way. And so if you're
not intentional about what you're consuming, you're letting the world
dictate what fills your heart. And so one of my clients, Sarah,
(11:42):
realized this when she kind of just took a little
inventory of her feed and she was following influencers who
made her feel and I say made her feel, but
like cause that feeling inside of her by following her
she felt inadequate and she felt like her friends always
seemed to have this like perfect life and accounts that
stirred up anxiety rather than peace. And here's the thing,
(12:04):
I know, it's all about taking ownership, Like our perception
of what's being fed to us is our is our responsibility? Right,
But again, if you look at it and you're like, Okay,
I'm taking responsibility for it, I'm going to do the
work on myself, but just knowing that while I'm doing that,
I'm being influenced in this direction and it doesn't feel
really good. And to boot for her specifically, it was
reinforcing the diet mentality or that binge restrict cycle that
(12:28):
she came to me to help her with, and so
every time she opened her app it was kind of
like a little hit to her self worth. But when
Sarah started curating her feed with intention, everything shifted, and
so she unfollowed the noise and filled her feed with
accounts that uplifted her and versus and devotionals and encouraging
(12:49):
words and guess what, her heart started to feel later.
Now here's the other side of this. If you feel penetrable,
if you can look at something on social media and
it may makes you feel crappy about yourself, if it
makes you feel less that, if it hits your self worth, Yes,
curating your feed is going to be helpful so that
you're not putting yourself in the line of fire. But
(13:12):
what I also really encourage is that you want to
address the actual self image and self worth that's causing
you to be penetrable like that. It's got to be both.
So I just wanted to say that as well. So
here's my question for you. Is your feed drawing you
closer to God or pulling you further away? And so
just take inventory because influence is influence. So is it
(13:34):
positively influencing you or is it negatively influencing you? And
I do invite you to start unfollowing anyone that breeds
comparison or anxiety or discouragement, because it's about guarding your
heart and filling it with content that points you back
to Him. The next step is to create space for stillness,
(13:56):
and Luke five point sixteen says, but Jesus often with
drew to lonely places and prayed. And I love this
like Jesus did it, so it must be important like
he went and found that solitude, And so think about it, Jesus.
You know, God in human form was constantly surrounded by
people who needed him, but he made it a priority
(14:18):
to step away and to be alone and to pray.
And so if Jesus needed that time of stillness, how
much more do we need?
Speaker 1 (14:25):
Right?
Speaker 2 (14:26):
And social media it never stops. It's a twenty four
to seven stream of content and opinions and notifications, and
if we're not careful, we can lose ourselves in it.
And that's why creating space for stillness is so critical.
And for me, that looked like, you know, taking regular
social media fasts or even mini breaks like I mentioned
(14:47):
in my dopamine detox anecdote and removing those apps from
my phone kind of forced me to fill my time
with more nourishing activities. Or I guess it didn't force me.
Speaker 3 (14:55):
I chose that.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
Right, and those moments of stillness ended up being some
of the most life giving steps in my faith journey.
And so maybe for you, it's stepping away from your
phone during meal times or setting aside fifteen minutes a
day to unplug and pray whatever it looks like. Make
stillness a regular part of your routine.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
Step five is to use social media as a tool
for faith.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
All right.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Matthew five sixteen says, let your light shine before others
that they may see your good deeds and glorify your
Father in heaven. And so here's the beautiful flip side
of this. Social media doesn't have to be just a distraction.
It can be a platform for connecting with others who
are sharing God's love and spreading encouragement and pointing people
(15:45):
to Him. Or that might be something that you actually
feel called into stepping into, Like maybe you want to
show up on your own social media feed in a
way that influences others. And so one of my favorite
things about social media is seeing how God, God uses
it to connect his people. And I've seen women share
their testimonies and post verses that spoke to their hearts
(16:07):
and encourage others in ways that ripple far beyond their screen.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
Right.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
And so here's my challenge to you, how can you
use your social media as a tool for faith? And
so maybe it's looking for people to follow that are
sharing scripture or messages that are meaningful to you. Maybe
it's finding people who are posting about how God is
working in their lives right, Or maybe it's as simple
as leaving an encouraging comment on somebody else's post. Right,
(16:34):
find the light that is shining from the digital world
and find people who are using their platform, or you know,
use your own if you want, no matter how big
or small it is, to just glorify God and draw
others close to him. And so the bottom line is,
you know, social media isn't inherently good or bad. It's
just a tool or it can be a weapon, depending
(16:54):
on how you use it. That's what makes the difference.
And without intentionality, it can distract us and discourage us
and drown out God's voice. But with a little discernment
and maybe even a little dopamine detox clear your headspace,
it can become a vibrant space to share hope and
build community and honor the one who never stops pursuing us.
(17:18):
And Psalm forty six to ten says, be still and
know that I am God. And in a world that
never stops moving, God invites us to pause and to
breathe and reconnect with him, and that, my friend, is
what's really at the heart of it all. So take
a step back this week and reflect on how social
media is shaping your heart and mind, and maybe experiment
(17:41):
with your own many dopamine detos if you feel that
nudge in your spirit. And above all, remember his voice
is always there. We just have to quiet the noise
and lean in. And so until next time, thank you
for tuning in, and we will be back with more
of the God Pod next week. Bye.
Speaker 3 (18:02):
We'll be back with more What's God Got to Do
with It?
Speaker 2 (18:04):
But in the meantime, I would definitely love to hear
from you, so just tell me where you are in
your story or maybe what questions you have, like where
do you feel you need clarity or support or wisdom
in your own journey. I definitely want to hear from you,
So head on over to What's God Got to Do
with It dot com and scroll down to the form
(18:25):
to share your thoughts, your questions, your feedback, and you
can do that instantly.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
So What's God Got to Do with It? Dot com?
You'll find all the ways to do that.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
And if you like this podcast and want to hear more,
go ahead and follow, like, and subscribe wherever you listen
to podcasts to get your weekly dose.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
Of What's God Got to Do With It?
Speaker 2 (18:45):
New episodes drop every single Tuesday, and while you're there, be.
Speaker 3 (18:49):
Sure to rate and review to show your support. It
really means so much.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
What's God Got to Do With It is an iHeartRadio
podcast on the Amy Brown Podcast Network.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
It's written and
Speaker 2 (19:01):
Hosted by me Leanne Ellington, executive produced by Elizabeth Fozio,
post production and editing by Houston Tilley, and original music
written by Cheryl Stark and produced by Adam Stark
Host
Leanne Ellington
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