“Why would I fast?” You ask. I may not have the real answers to that question but I can at least take you through the benefits of taking a break from social media.
- CLOSER RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD: If you feel like your relationship with God is wavering and you know the cause is because you just can’t get your hands off your phone, well I would suggest a social media fast. God is actually the basis of every fast, as we take a break from things we think can’t live without and are taking the place of God in our lives so that we get closer to God.If we take a look at the Bible [especially the Old Testament],, we will see that whenever people saw that they were far away from God and chased irrelevant things they fasted.
- TO SPEND MORE TIME WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS: Let’s admit it, most times we are with our phones, we are in a world of our own, we can hardly hear what the next person is saying and to be honest, we might have annoyed our family members and friends because anytime they talk to us we are with our phones as if we are saying “ Sorry but my phone, social media and people who don’t even know me are more important than you”. So the fast really makes you closer to people around you. When I took my 2 weeks social media fast, I actually spent more time with my siblings, I listened to them more and I really had more fun with them. And during that period I also got to know how it feels like when you are talking to someone but the person really isn’t listening to you and is busy with their phones [ and it hurts!! And so annoying].
- OBSERVANT: Honestly when going through a social media fast, you become more observant of your surroundings and what is going on around you and that’s not a bad thing at all because it aids your creativity and you become more productive and who doesn’t want to be more productive?.
- DETOXIFY: Staying away from social media actually detoxifies you, honestly, when I stayed away and was intentional about the fast, I felt free, free from the whole social media drama, I don’t know how to explain it but it feels like a burden has been lifted from you. It helps a lot especially for those that tend to compare themselves with others on social media, with the fast, you just have to focus on you and God and won’t have time to see who’s wearing the latest designer shoes or what is going on in others lives.
It won’t be easy to engage in a social media fast, when you want to do it excuses would run through your head, but do it anyway and at first you will feel this internal war in your head and it’s like you don’t know what you are doing or it’s just a waste of time but don’t worry, pray to God and He will help you through.
Images from:Google pictures and flickr.com
All She Writes 