3 tips for believers content creators on networks...

I want to cheer you on as a fellow content creator and virtual business owner for nearly a decade on social media. If I can give advice it is only because I know firsthand the difficulty in navigating the opportunities to publish, speak, influence, inspire and create income by constantly spending time on social media for almost the entire past decade. What does it take to benefit from social media without being consumed by it?

1) Remember why you are there

Social media makes God's work in your life accessible to many. If the goal is to make God's faithfulness known in our lives, we must truly work to know God's faithfulness in our lives. out of social networks.

We cannot give what we do not really have. When we think of social networks not so much as a place to produce, but more as a place where what we are can go beyond, the time we spend on any platform stops becoming the destination and becomes the vehicle. Remember that your social media presence is not primarily about you message, your talents, you mission or your income. It's about God's work in your life—at all times, on or off social media—and how it affects everything He has commissioned you to do.

Remember that your social media presence is not primarily about you message, your talents, you mission or your income. It's about God's work in your life.

Social networks allow us to use our creativity. We are created as bearers of the Imago Dei and we have the opportunity to reflect God's creativity. The most exhausting seasons I've experienced on social media have been when I forget to reflect on God's work and creativity and instead compare myself to another His image bearer—her creativity, her style, her voice, her ability to attract an audience. Nothing ruins me more than comparison! But when I am aware that God has gifted me in a unique way, I find freedom in creativity. Remember that God created you to be a unique person.

2) Guard your heart

Keep from focusing on yourself. The danger in building our platforms, growing our audience, and reaching more people is that we are naturally prone to worship ourselves. Our hearts are idol factories looking for any opportunity to put fame, fortune, self-image, success or influence on the throne of our hearts.

You probably have experienced it. How many times have you fought with your caresteem, carimage, carcompassion, realization staff or with doubt yourself after spending time on social media platforms? Are you beginning to feel your lack of contentment increasing and your trust in God worsening? Guard your heart by guarding your time, your affections, your attention and who you really adore.

3) Develop useful social media practices

So how can we use networks in a useful way? Friend, I would like to give you some ideas of my own daily reminders:

Write a mission statement for social media. Your statement may be simple, but the more focused and detailed it is, the more useful it will be. It should help you realign with why you're really there. On almost all social networks, the common goal statement is to get as many followers as possible by any means. For followers of Jesus, that simply cannot be the way we act.

Our mission is not simply about drawing people to ourselves, because we are called to lead people to look to Christ. Often when I'm in a bad mood because of social media or frustrated with the performance of a post, the question I have to ask myself is: "Who am I targeting?" The more I target myself, the more unhappy I will be.

The danger of increasing our audience and reaching more people is that we are by nature prone to worship ourselves.

Includes accountability. If you really want to use social media to amplify your voice, you need to have people holding you accountable for who you are, both on and off screen. I recently heard Ed Stetzer say, "There are many casualties among young pastors who became famous for their skills before their character was ready." I was struck by the fact that the same can be said of anyone who has "followers" on social media.

I need guardrails to keep me from getting lost in the public eye, on social media, or in an industry that tempts every creator to see themselves as a bigger brand name than they should be (Phil 2:3 ).

If none of your friends in real life understand the context of what you're posting online and none of your friends online know you in real life, you're too isolated. Even worse, you are headed for disaster. There is no character strong or deep enough that it does not need to be held accountable. In fact, the more mature and faithful your character is, the more aware you will be that you need others to know and be able to speak truth to your life.

Create from what overflows in you. We do not live to produce, we were created for the presence of God. When we're full, this overflows.

seek to serve others. A service attitude changes the space in social networks. Whether your platform is just about marketing or showcasing life's perfect moments, all of your feed It will be full of “Look at me and let me get something from having you here” type posts. But when we think of social networks as one more way to serve others and expand what God is doing in our lives, everything changes.

Treat your platforms like a virtual living room. I like to think of my social media platform as the virtual living room of my house. That helps me treat the space and the people there as I would treat my home and the people I invite there.

This method is a really handy way to avoid a flashy account or becoming addicted to myself in the process of sharing my life. Thinking about how I would treat someone with my tone, my responses, or even my content helps me immensely. If I invite a new friend to my house, I don't open the door for her and I pretend that my life is totally perfect. And I don't hand him a cup of coffee while I proceed to talk about myself non-stop. Rather, I try to ask questions, form connections, and be hospitable.

Nor do I confuse intimacy with hospitality. Being intimate means sharing something personal, maybe even embarrassing. Our culture today celebrates this type of content because it is "real" or "authentic" but, sisters, intimate things are only shared with people you trust.

Instead, I look for generous hospitality. I want to invite others to see what is happening in my life, include people. But I want to do it wisely, like I would if we were sitting in my living room. From the sofa I would share in general terms what God is teaching me, or cooking tips, or new projects I have at work. Hospitality keeps the focus on the shared experience rather than the intimate details. Plus, it gives your "audience" a place to connect, not a place to voyeurize.

When I treat my social media platform like a virtual living room, I'm welcoming rather than trying to win a sale or a follower. I am there to serve while you are at my house and hopefully you decide to stay a while longer.

Point to the greatness of Christ

So, friend, as we navigate these ever-changing platforms and opportunities to grow, build, strategize, and amplify your voice, let's remember what John the Baptist declared as a man with a following: “It is necessary for Him to increase, and for me to decrease." (Jn 3:30).

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