Lent starts every Ash Wednesday in February. I have not given up many things for lent over the years of my life. I didn’t eat meat on Fridays, but that’s not hard for me. One year I decided to give up everything that has chocolate in it. I couldn’t do it. During lent I broke down and ate the part of the box of chocolate truffles I had bought my dad for Easter. I finished off the box later that week and bought my dad another box. I felt bad because I gave in to temptation and felt weak.
My problem was I did not ask God for the strength to overcome that temptation. I had never asked God specifically for the strength to accomplish things or overcome temptation. I had heard and read the bible verse “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” but didn’t think about it.
This year I decided to try to give something up. At first, I thought I will read the bible more every day, then I changed my mind. I couldn’t decide what to give up. But I finally decided the day after Lent started this year and I gave up Facebook because I knew it would be difficult.
I don’t even know how many times I deleted my account in the past, then cancelled the deletion. I was addicted to Facebook. At first, I had to pray a lot for strength because I was having withdrawal. I had a love-hate relationship with Facebook for years. Facebook had not been good for my mental health for quite a while. I thought there were a few good things on Facebook, but not enough to stay. I am still not on Facebook and have no desire to go back.
If you are considering giving up social media because it is bad for your mental health, just give it a shot.
Replace it with listening to praise music, reading uplifting stories, watching inspirational movies, or reading your bible. Do something that uplifts you.
Ask God the Father to give you the strength to not log on. Tell Jesus you are having a hard time resisting when you are tempted, He will help you.
You will be happy you did.
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