I would like to say first and foremost that I 100% believe in technology as you are reading a blog right now that happened because of technology. I have a smart phone just like everyone else and and love it too. I love where technology has taken us. Who would have thought just 20 or even 10 years ago where we would be today.
With the good always comes the bad. You can’t have one without the other. Where technology is supposed to make our lives easier, it has actually made our lives harder to some degree.
How many times have you seen people so addicted their their phones that it has taken over their life? And teens are the worst on this with sending thousands of texts every month. Satan really has used technology to destroy our communication. I can remember growing up when we communicated, we all talked face to face but now you are considered communicating when you are emailing or texting people. That is NOT communication that is avoiding communication.
I realize that texting can be good when you need it like maybe the person you are trying to reach is in a meeting and you know it then send them a simple text if you have a question. That is not where the problems come into play.
The problems come in when technology has taken over your life and you feel as though you can’t live without it. Who knows the day could come when we have to communicate without technology at the way our world is going. God forbid if something like that happens but what would you do?
When I am talking to people, it is a shame when I realize that this person just has almost zero communication skills but if you were to text them they could hold a conversation. That is sad and you would not believe how often that is the case.
People are allowing technology to run every part of their daily lives. Again, I love technology as I use it too but sometimes you have to put things away so that you can focus on your family and on God.
How many times do you have your phone and sending texts while you are trying to have family time? Do not let it come between you and your family. Technology used in this way will destroy your family because it is destroying your communication.
If you are that addicted to technology then maybe it is time to take a break from it. Maybe God could be calling you to fast from it for 24 hours and maybe even a week or more. I do not know but you know if he is or not.
If you are able to keep it in control that is one thing but when you allow every part of it to control you and your family then something drastic has to happen before you lose everything you have. I have known people to lose their families because of this addiction.
This is a tough addiction because we will always be around technology and it isn’t going anywhere. So being able to control technology addiction becomes harder than a drug or alcohol addiction because you have no choice to still use it to some degree unlike drugs and alcohol where you can just never use them again.
And believe me I could have hit many more things within technology but I felt that mobile phones is a huge deal right now so that is why I am mostly focusing on that issue.
So what do you do to control this? You have to learn to put priorities first. If you are out of whack with it then when you are with your family, turn your cell phone off. Allow your time with them to be time that you focus on only them.
When you are with God, turn your phone off so that you only focus on God. God doesn’t mind you using technology to enhance your life. He just doesn’t want it to become your life.
I could go on and on with this subject but I think you get what I am saying. Technology has its place and it is good to use but we just need to use it in a way that works for us not against us.
Ask God to give you the wisdom when you need to use technology and when you don’t. Ask him to give you the strength to put it down when you need to so you can work on your family. Ask him to give you the courage to set boundaries within your family on technology.
Living a God-Inspired Life!
Chris Benton