5 Spiritual Dangers of Screen Addiction

Start this necessary journey by putting down your phone. Today, take the time to reflect on what truly matters.

Christian Growth June 11, 2020

Screen addiction is an alarming condition for both young people and adults. Interestingly, a recent study indicated that the average person checks their phone every 12 minutes.
In this endless digital age, we resort to the use of our mobile devices on a daily basis. For instance, we may refer to our phones while traveling, waiting for a bus or flight, and even during family mealtimes.

But what exactly are the risks associated with screen addiction, particularly when it comes to our spiritual life? Let me share with you some of the known spiritual dangers.

Online negative images can ruin your reputation
While living in the digital age has some crucial advantages, social media can also be used as a platform for senseless forums and unprofessional remarks. A lack of sensibility with what we post can lead to horrific consequences and greatly damage our reputations.

Because God is expecting us to be the “light” and “salt” in the workplace, we need to be very careful about how we project ourselves on social media. Remember, building healthy relationships and positive connections with others is a genuine sign of being a true disciple.

Over-consummation can waste precious time
One thing I observed about successful people is that they know how to manage their time. Since time is one of our most precious commodities, we must use the time God has entrusted to us wisely. You will find that engaging in positive and productive activities throughout the day is a great alternative to playing around on your phone.

It may interfere with your worship experience
The gadgets that we have can be a great tool to help us find inspiring Bible scriptures and songs. However, while technology may prove useful at times; more often than not, it ends up being a distraction. Our electronic devices can easily lead us to be out of focus, resulting in a mediocre worship experience. The bottom line is, if we allow our phones to interfere with our worship, we will never fully mature in our faith.

It may perpetrate unhealthy comparison to others
In the efforts to present our lives a certain way, we may tend to post only our greatest experiences online. We may update our statuses with photos of our latest phone purchase, our children’s top grades, or a sumptuous restaurant dinner that we have previously enjoyed.

While social media is no doubt a great place to share wonderful memories, we need to be mindful that what we post is reflective of our lived experiences. We also must carefully monitor our daily intake – Nobody has a perfect life, and that applies on social media too. Don’t compare yourself to filtered versions of other people’s lives. Feed into your spiritual life instead.

It may cause you to focus on the wrong things
The digital age offers a wide range of opportunities to us humans, but the result is our inability to discern between divine and worldly values. For instance, world values reflected on social media often emphasize the importance of appearance, accomplishments and acquiring material possessions.

In other words, they amplify what is not truly important and make such things seem essential. Yet, we are all equal and important in the sight of God, regardless of how many Facebook likes or followers we have. Instead of focusing on the fleeting things of this world, we should instead direct our attention to building characters of eternal value.

If you think you may be hooked onto this little device, perhaps it’s time to begin a digital detox. Just as Mary sat quietly at the feet of Jesus, refusing to be distracted by lesser, unimportant things, so should we.

Start this necessary journey by putting down your phone. Today, take the time to reflect on what truly matters.

“So, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31, NIV)

What are some alternative activities you can engage in, outside of your phone use?

Author

Jun Amparo

Amparo is a University Counselor and lecturer at Asia-Pacific International University in Thailand. He is a speaker and has written two books about marriage and personal finance. To read more of his work, please visit his blog, www.richlyblessedtoday.com

    2 comments

  • | February 11, 2022 at 6:40 am

    Such a great reminder. I need this digital detox.

  • | September 2, 2023 at 6:03 am

    Very helpful!

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