Christian Testimony 2014: February Facebook Fasting

By: Denise N. Fyffe
Copyright © 2014, Denise N. Fyffe

Social media has totally taken over our lives and because of this I have decided on a Facebook fast. No Facebook, a month-long sacrifice whilst denying the addiction. It has been 14 years since I have been introduced to the computer and since then I have spent thousands of hours not only performing my daily work duties, but thousands more still being entertained, researching, watching movies, reading books, playing games, communicating with friends and family and honestly wasting time too.  The invention of social media has made it next to impossible to detach for more than a few hours from the online world and Facebook is one the biggest perpetrators there is.

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Pinterest etc are just a few of the websites that millions of people visit in record numbers on a daily basis. I am also one of those people. But as a Christian, you become an endangered species. Why? Simple, idolatry. Anything which takes you away from God, anything that you cherish more than your time with him and anything that causes you to be addicted; this is an idol in your life. The bible clearly states in Exodus 20:3 “You shall have no other gods before me”.

The 21^st century has many idols from Blackberry or other smart phones, video games, social media websites and yes, even porn websites. There is good and bad to the internet, but many of us are entangled in the bad. Nevertheless, God declares in Joel 2:12 ESV, “Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;”

To this end, I have decided to break off from Facebook, which is my biggest social media indulgence, for one month.