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Are you faking on Instagram? God convicted me about
being phony for social media likes
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Article By Latoya Harris // Social Media
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Posted March 22, 2017
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Photo Getty/Wundervisuals
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One day, I was so sad, bored and lonely. I literally felt like nothing was going right in my life. I
spent the early part of my afternoon crying, eating Cheetos and watching Lifetime. Pretty
pathetic, I know.
I was not the victorious Christian everyone imagined me to be that day. So, you know what I did
instead of praying and getting myself together? I put on some makeup, dolled myself up, found
some good lighting, fake-smiled into my phone camera, and posted the picture on Instagram.
I could always get a quick shot of approval from my 200 or so followers who lavished me with
compliments, telling me how pretty I was and how awesome my life appeared. I gobbled those
affirmations up quicker than I sucked up those Cheetos!
The picture I had touched up with my Facetune app to make it even better got about 48 likes,
which was more than the 6 I usually averaged. That was enough for me to feel good about myself
for a few minutes of the day and convince others I had it all together. One of my followers even
added "#Goals" to her comment, which meant my beauty and lifestyle was what she aspired to.
Well, after I finished patting myself on the back, smiling, refreshing my browser to see how many
more likes or comments I received, the Holy Spirit convicted me for being fake.
At first, I brushed this off. I reasoned my way out of listening to the Lord’s urging by asking, what
can be so bad about projecting an image online of happiness and excitement? That’s a good
thing! But I knew I was faking. The more I resisted those strong feelings of conviction, the
stronger they got. Just great. I knew I was going to have to listen.
That’s when I decided to surrender, put the Cheetos away, lay my phone down, pull out my Bible
and prepare to hear what thus said the Lord.
The first scripture I turned to in my Bible was Proverbs 31:30 NIV, which reads, “Charm is
deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.” God was
letting me know through His word that my focus and priorities were wrong. I valued beauty, charm
and all the things the world calls admirable, and worthy of praise. But what I needed to be
focused on was what the word of God calls praiseworthy, which is, reverencing and loving Him.
Part of the reason I was feeling low was because I had gotten sucked into a fake, shallow
worldview. What I wore, whether or not my eyebrows were “on fleek,” or how perfect my face and
body looked mattered to me too much. God’s standards for living, however, didn’t matter to me
enough. I needed to get it together and stop faking on Instagram!
Some weeks later, I took a social media break.
I did that because I wanted to do some real soul-searching and go deeper in God. I had a desire
to build my relationship with the Savior and grow in wisdom. This passion and hunger led me to
step away from all the fakeness, posturing and pretending. It made me strip away the layers of
false confidence and contrived images of perfection. I took my true self, with all my brokenness,
to the Lord and He began to do an amazing work in my life. In fact, He's not finished yet!
I eventually deleted my Instagram page, because it wasn’t good for me. Though many of my
friends, family members and social acquaintances seem to have perfectly healthy relationships
with social media, I did not. It was hindering me and had become a huge distraction in my life. My
journey required that I break away from it, though I don’t push that off on anyone else.
Anyway, I permanently quit all that “stunting for the Gram,” which simply means trying to appear
to be more than what you are to impress Instagram followers. Now, instead of scrolling through
an Instagram feed, I feed my spirit with God’s word.
Daily, I am affirmed by God's word. Furthermore, I keep these three scriptures God gave me the
first day He convicted me about my phoniness online, close to my heart.
Here they are:
Mark 8:36 NLT - “And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own
soul?”
Philippians 4:8 NIV: “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your
thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable.
Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” (Philippians 4:8 NIV)
Isaiah 26:3 NIV: “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts
are fixed on you!”
If you need a social media break, take one. If you notice yourself becoming too shallow and
tainted by the world’s ideas about beauty, success and lifestyle, change your influences. Spend
less time engrossed in certain carnal, fleshly activities. Devote more of your day to working on
your relationship with God.
Fixing perceived flaws with apps and then posting a carefully edited photo online may fool your
followers, but it won’t fool the one you’re supposed to be following. Jesus already knows the real,
so you may as well keep it real and allow Him to fix whatever area is broken inside.
If you are hiding brokenness and you know you really need fixing, give it to Jesus. Allow the
Empowering Everyday Women Ministries prayer team to stand in faith with you for real change
and breakthrough in your life. Give it all to the Lord. He can work it out! Click here to submit a
prayer request.
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