What Fruit are Christians Producing with Their Social Media Interactions?
In a day where social media consumes a big portion of our lives and interactions, we have to be mindful of our communication and responses toward others. Being mindful that our social media conversations lack body language and tone of voice, they are read and conveyed as words on a page. We all know the power of our words. The words we type are perceived on the words alone and can be taken differently than you intended.
Related Post: Envy and The Facebook Effect
Knowing this, some things just shouldn't be posted on social media. It is not enough to display a post, have someone take it the wrong way, and then justify what you really meant. Before we even post, we need to be cognizant of how the recipient will understand it. People will disagree and have different views on everything we post. That is understandable when our disagreements result in angrily forcing our viewpoint on another or reacting to someone's post without a Spirit of love. The way we handle our disagreements over social media and how we debate with our social media "friends" should bear good fruit.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. - Galatians 5:22-23
Christians: Non-Christians are perceiving our simple Facebook or Twitter interactions in their understanding of Christian behavior. May we not hurt our witness of Christ over our internet rants.Non-Christians: I apologize for us Christians who don't portray the fruits of the Spirit towards you. I am sorry for our posts that lack understanding and love and instead scream anger, resentment, pride, and impatience.
Jesus said that we would be recognized by our fruit.
Are our digital interactions communicating the fruits of the Spirit? The fruit of the Spirit should be evident in how we live our lives; that includes our social media rants and posts.Do our words...
- express love or hate?
- bring joy or invoke anger?
- create peace or dissension?
Is our political stance possessing kindness and gentleness? Do we have self-control, or do we lack discernment in our posts? May the Spirit lead us in our interactions to produce everlasting fruit. The fruits we produce are evidence of our relationship with Christ.The fruit we produce is evidence of our relationship with Christ!