What is your relationship with social media? The good news is that there is a lot of information available at your fingertips. The bad news is that there is a lot of information available at your fingertips.

Check out the Faithful Fathering Podcast to hear a perspective on various media offered by Shanita Hart with Street Grace Ministries. We discussed the good, bad and the ugly of social media. Discerning through the value offered via the many platforms can be challenging. But discernment is critical if one is not to fall into dependency.

Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” – Genesis 4:6-7. It seems that the various media indeed “desires to have you.” It not only influences the what, how and when you make purchases, the algorithms then point to further items of interest. The same thing happens with political opinion and pornography, and it can head south quickly. One “must rule over it.” King Solomon offers some wisdom – One who diligently seeks good seeks favor, but one who seeks evil, evil will come to him. – Proverbs 11:27. One thing social media has enabled is the ability to seek, good and evil! And the apostle John warns, Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does what is good is of God; the one who does what is evil has not seen God. – 3John 1:11. As discussed in the podcast, social media has tremendous value for good but it also has the ability to entice old and young alike to imitate what is evil.

Social media itself is not evil but evil can surely show up through social media. Here are some ways to manage exposure to the influence of media in your home:

• Evaluate your own screen time and the example you are setting;
• Encourage open discussion in family around social media experiences;
• Establish limits on use of and exposure to various media;
• Eat dinner together as a family with all technology off and out of sight;
• Prohibit use of phones, pads, computers in isolation and after 8:00p.m.

Prayer guide: Thank You for Your word and the wisdom offered. I confess that I thought I could control the plethora of information that technology has opened the door to through the various media. Instead, I have let it control me more than I would like to admit. Forgive me. I commit to setting new controls on my personal use of technology, to “rule over it.” As I lead by example, I will work with my bride to set appropriate controls in the home that will ensure that the primary influence in the home is the day-to-day example of living under Your word and into Your love. Help us keep the focus on You as we seek to raise kids that know You. That is the dad You call me to be, and that’s the dad my kids need to see. Amen.

A faithful father rules over the influence of social media.