"Snapchat, Who's The Fairest One of All?"

My daughter is fully entrenched in the classic Disney princess stories of Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and of course, Snow White. You may remember the Evil Queen's most memorable line in Snow White, "Magic Mirror on the wall, who's the fairest one of all?" 

In the 21st century, we are still asking that question, but not to a mirror. Instead, we are asking that question of social media. Our Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook "like" addiction is another way to ask, "who's the fairest one of all?" An individual in touch with junior high and senior high students commented to me, "When a student has only 3 'likes' on their post, people start to feel bad for them." 

Why?

Because the number of social media "likes" one accumulates is often tied to one's "approval rating." No wonder why we're checking our phones hundreds of times a day! We need that thing to give us good news! We need Instagram to tell us, "Here's 50 'likes,' you're worth a million bucks!" Where does this lead? Can you say, "self-absorption"? Some of the most empty, dissatisfied people I've ever met have also been the most self-absorbed people I've ever met. We need an alternative.

The best alternative is the gospel. Jesus on a cross is God looking at your Snapchat profile and clicking 'like'; or better, 'love.' Not because He was impressed with your post because He wasn't. God loves you because, well, He loves you. That's called unconditional love. It means God's love for you isn't contingent on your social media performance or anything else you've ever done or not done. 

Only 2 'likes' with your latest Instagram post? So what!?!? GOD LOVES YOU! No social media 'like' can do better than that!

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