life beyond the well…

Tag Archives: Friendship


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When Social Becomes Sinful

I love social media.  I especially love the ability to use social media to stay in touch with people and current events.  I’m always excited to receive a friend request from someone that I knew, and I love seeing pictures of people getting married, having babies, graduating, getting promotions, etc.

But…there’s also something that I don’t like about social media (and perhaps technology in general).  I really don’t like that social media seems to give people the license to be mean at the expense of others.

Here’s what I mean- far too often our social media behavior is making fun of others.  Talking bad about them; saying things about them that we might not ever say if they were standing in front of us.  Sometimes it’s about people we know, sometimes it’s about people we used to know, sometimes it’s about celebrities (who are people too), and sometimes it’s about strangers.  The whole “People of Walmart” or “World Star Hip Hop” phenomenon…to air someone’s less clean laundry bothers me.

Seriously- what is happening IN us that we feel the need to document, comment on, and share someone else’s shortcomings?

I love a laugh as much as the next person.  But, laughing and publicly sharing and shaming someone else? That’s not cool.

The great thing about social media is that it can be used to reach the masses.  With the same energy that we use to shame, we can encourage, inspire, uplift, and glorify God.  Here’s the thing- anything that we have can be used as a tool to lead others to Christ.  Social media provides us with this platform

I know that everyone may not agree with this, and I’m fine with that.  I know that there are people who may view social media solely as an outlet for expression.  And while it is absolutely an outlet for expression, here are my questions:

  • As I stated before- what is happening IN us that we feel the need to document, comment on, and share someone else’s shortcomings?
  • Isn’t there a way that we can express ourselves without it being at the expense of someone else?
  • Would you say ____________ to the person/people directly? (If the answer is no, why are you saying it at all?)

The word teaches that death and life are in the power of the tongue, advises us against unwholesome talk, and instructs us to encourage one another.

When I was in college (as social media just started to exist), a friend’s mom gave us some good advice on speaking, telling us, “Before you speak, ask yourself if what you’re about to say is nice, necessary, and the truth.” I think that’s all something we could stand to abide by now.

Until next time…

Be encouraged!  Peace and Blessings!


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The Appointment

It’s not something that’s on my schedule.  If you were to check my iPhone and my Outlook calender, you’d notice that the space between 4:45pm and 5:00pm Monday-Thursday is always empty. It’s the end of the day, and during that time, I find myself doing two things: prepping for the next day and waiting.

Waiting for my appointment.

I don’t know when it became an “appointment”.  It kind of just happened.  She would get dismissed from her class and swing by my office before heading downstairs to get picked up.  Initially, it was just to ask a question about high school or college. But eventually it became more- the visits became more frequent and the questions (and conversations) became about life.  Real life stuff- the kind of stuff that can trip up even the smartest, most talented person if they aren’t equipped to deal with it.  She shares, and asks questions.  I listen- until she’s ready for me to ask questions or provide feedback.

After talking with Jesus, and praying with Preacherman, this is one of the best parts of my day. When working with students, you often wonder if you’re really impacting their life.  You wonder if what you do, what you say, how you teach and instruct is helping to move the needle; not just in the classroom, but outside of it as well.  Most days, I’m given this appointment- this 15 minutes to plant some seeds, water other seeds, and pull up some weeds in this student’s life.  It’s something that I cherish- and I’m grateful to God to be entrusted with this responsibility.  My life is better because of it- and I pray that hers is as well.

Until next time…

Be encouraged!  Peace and Blessings!