Get off the Internet (Except for Study)

As recently posted in the Emma Joy Weekly Newsletter

Living with Intention


Hello, everyone!


Today I'd like to address why spending time on the Internet apart from study, reading, and self-improvement is never worth it.


Social media is a horrid thing because it gives every person a voice. Anyone with access to the Internet can share their views, influence the masses, and be influenced by poisonous and toxic ideas.


It is despicable the vanity, filth, debauchery, and cesspool of lies and stupidity the Internet contains.


I often discuss with my family the importance of daily attending to one's legacy, getting one's life together, serving others, regular exercise, learning new skills, languages, and trades, and how necessary it is for all people to redeem the time. The Internet doesn't allow for these things, unless of course you perfectly curate who you follow and the voices you allow to speak into your life.


The Internet is a vast space in which the majority brag, compare, distort, make fools of themselves, or throw their God-given hours down the drain. It is a black hole that sucks you in and unless you are careful, will leave you feeling less than, drained, angry, or jealous.


There is such joy in self-improvement, learning, maturing, repenting, pursuing wisdom, and being an individual instead of a statistic. And unless you are extremely careful with your Internet use, these grand pursuits and accomplishments just won't be true of you.


I'd highly exhort you to examine how much time you spend on the Internet, what exactly you use it for, and its influence in your life. How is it impacting your character? How is its use taking away from your roles and responsibilities? How is it influencing your worldview? Does it make God more or less relevant to you? Does it offer you purpose or take away from living a significant life?


Besides giving you the opportunity to keep up with the (highly edited and filtered) lives of others, why do you use social media? Besides endless entertainment, why do you use the Internet?


How refreshing would it be if you decided to make a drastic change in how you spend your time and actually deactivate all your social media accounts, stop associating with people from the past (who left your life for a reason before Facebook made you believe it would be a good idea to become "friends" again), and to call or spend time in person with those who truly bless and better your life?


I'm not just anti-Internet (apart from the wealth of valuable resources to study), I'm anti-television. Why? Because they both affect your soul. And unless you are extremely careful, you will find that God becomes an afterthought and living for the empty, fleeting, foolish pursuits this temporary world has to offer will ensnare you.


Please consider these things and really ponder their effect in your life (spiritually, mentally, physically, emotionally, socially, relationally). Make changes as necessary. You won't regret it!