Aaron Capito
This week our students talked about social media, comparison, and contentment. The world shows us the finished product and hides the work, the mess, and the struggle behind it. When we only see the highlights, we start comparing our real lives to a fake reality.
The goal: help students see that God wants honesty about our weaknesses, that our struggles have purpose, and that real contentment comes from trusting Him in every circumstance.
Passages: Philippians 4:11-13, Ecclesiastes 4:4, Isaiah 14:27, Psalm 139:13-14
Students saw a picture of an apple that looked healthy, delicious, and ready to eat. The mirror behind it told the real story. The apple had already been eaten. It was on its way to rotting and ready to be thrown away.
Social media works the same way. We see part of the picture, and that part is positioned to show only the good. Think about a typical "year in review" post. It is almost all good and no bad. Is that even possible?
Social media promotes a lie of appearance. People want to be seen as only prospering, so they hide their struggles. When we scroll through that all day, many of us start to believe everyone else has it better than we do.
If God really has everything under control, then our struggles have purpose. That means we can have joy in the middle of them. But we lose sight of that when every scroll shows us fake good things.
God wants us to be honest with ourselves. We all have strengths, and we all have things we struggle with. God does His best work through our dependence on Him, and even when we boast in our weaknesses.
Paul once had it all. He was a Jewish leader who knew the Scriptures and held high standing in society. He also persecuted and killed Christians. After he met Jesus, he became a man who suffered to spread the Gospel. His conversion is one of the biggest pictures of how much Jesus forgives.
Paul was imprisoned many times and was eventually killed for his faith. His letters talk openly about being in chains, and even about how hard it was. Yet one theme runs through all of them: he is joyful. He finds reasons for joy. He is strong, but not because of himself.
In Philippians 4:11-13, the church in Philippi wanted to help him. Paul thanked them but told them he had learned to be content in every situation: brought low or abounding, full or hungry, in plenty or in need. He knew there were more comfortable options. He knew his life was likely in danger. He knew some people pitied him and some were probably glad he was locked up. Still, he was content, because he was so in line with what God wanted for his life that he trusted whatever happened was God's sovereign decision.
"I can do all things through him who strengthens me" is one of the most quoted verses around. Students learned what it does and does not mean.
This runs directly against what social media says. Social media says to hide the bad and put the good up front. It says that if you are in a tough season, you are doing something wrong, and you are wrong for feeling the way you feel. God says something different. He calls us to bring what is hard and lay it at His feet. He wants us to see hardship as an opportunity to trust Him more. As we do, He shapes us to look more like Him, and every circumstance becomes a reason to be content, just as it was for Paul in prison.
Even when we make sense of our circumstances, we still struggle with comparing. We want what others have.
Ecclesiastes 4:4 says that much of our work and effort comes from envy of our neighbor, and calls it vanity and "a striving after wind." Students talked about how much time and effort we can pour into comparing what we have to what other people have. Chasing the wind is pointless, and that is what unhealthy comparison is.
What God has for each student is valuable, and their story is unique. That is something to thank Him for. Isaiah 14:27 reminds us that when the Lord has a purpose, no one can undo it.
Social media says you are not good enough, you should want to be like other people, and you have to fake who you are to be liked. God says in Psalm 139:14 that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. Students were reminded they are too valuable in God's eyes not to value how He made them.
The world's highlight reel is a fake reality. A real highlight reel looks like Paul's. Whether he was free or in chains, he kept boasting about the goodness of God. That is what God wants for us.
We make His name known when the world sees us stay calm in tough circumstances, stay joyful in hard times, and even boast about what we learned through hardship. That shows people the remedy is Christ.
These are the questions students discussed in small groups. The leader suggested that leaders answer questions 3 and 4 first. That works at home too, so consider going first yourself.
A few easier openers if you want to start smaller: