I get a little weary of people complaining about our digital world and the ways it hurts relationships … especially when they are using Facebook or Twitter to voice their opinion. It isn’t necessarily the tool we use, but our own attitudes and the way we use these tools. It also exposes, in many ways, a person’s behavior that sometimes should be left under a rock.
This morning I was contemplating the old adage, “If you have nothing good to say; say nothing at all.” One thing the internet has done is allow us to maintain a façade of anonymity while voicing opinions that for some reason we believe everyone needs to hear. Without permission, we spew vile words into the world and feel justification when some single person responds to those words.
We haven’t given any consideration to the actual individuals whom we are speaking about or the thought that they might look at the situation differently than we do … we just say what’s on our mind. This is not about digital behavior, it’s about our own behavior. Things we have said for years to our own family, teaching them to criticize and divide, we now say in a relatively public forum. Things we believe are funny, but are actually hurtful and hateful when said out loud.
Paul encouraged the Ephesians to be worthy of their calling. Honestly, I think it’s more than just attempting to be worthy of the calling … we should walk in a manner worthy of the gift of life we have been given.
If we look at our lives as a gift and attempt to live out each day in humility and gentleness … with patience and lifting others up in love … we end up recognizing that each person’s life is a gift.
Those who say snarky, mean, nasty, judgmental, critical things online are called trolls.
Rather than being a troll, I desire to be someone who walks in a manner worthy of the gift of life I have been given.
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