Technology is a delightful tool. Globalization is an incredible gift. The capability to share thoughts and information all across our planet and even into space is positively mind-boggling. Ease of expressing our opinions to a large audience has, I believe, desensitized us to take this gift for granted. What we choose to share, "like," open, read, and comment on matters. Social media's commonplace has become a graveyard for countless hours of my life and we can easily fool ourselves into thinking that its use is harmless, worthwhile, even necessary. Unfiltered political platforms, cultural issue commentaries, opinion polls, sensationalist stories, trending health fads, and tutorials for things that really don't need a tutorial inundate my newsfeed daily. 95% of these I'm completely uninterested in, but will sometimes get sucked into without mindfulness of the time and mental investment I'm making with each click further.
Our culture's food obsession scrutinizes what we feed our bodies (antioxidants- good! yellow dye #87- bad! paleo- great! atkins- dig your grave now!) and how we care for them (crossfit! high intensity! 5k! fitbit!). But what about our minds? What fuel do we fill our minds with? Many will insist that meditation and intentional clearing of the mind of negativity is a necessary practice, but if how we fed and guided our thoughts each day was healthy, perhaps this wouldn't even be a "thing."
What if we actually took seriously Paul's encouragement in Philippians 4:8, "Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things?" If we focused our thoughts on truth, honor, justice, purity, beauty, true goodness, and excellence, how would that renew our minds and transform our lives (Romans 12:2)? Would that allow us to "be sober-minded" and "prepare our minds for action" (1 Peter 1:13) in such a way that we could "put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and slander" (1 Peter 2:1)? Could we, then, live to "proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light" as God's people who have received a serious amount of mercy (1 Peter 2:9-10)?
When we set our minds on unchanging, life-giving, mind-sharpening truth (specifically, truth about who God is, what He has done, and who we are in light of who He is and what He has done) instead of whatever fleeting nonsense flits in and out of social media, we are more enabled to live well, without hypocrisy, and to use words to love excellently.
So is what you devote your thoughts to (whether two hours or two minutes at a time) worthy of the limited time you're given on Earth? Is it lovely? Do the things that you choose to share or tweet "spur one another on toward love and good deeds" (Hebrews 10:24)? Are we commenting in ways that prompt our hearts to "increase and abound in love for one another" (1 Thessalonians 3:12)? Are you thinking excellently?
