Withholding Likes – New Rules of Facebook #5

Facebook by its design is more of a highlight reel than a documentary. Most people only post the best and it’s easy to think that someone else’s life is perfect.

Worse, it’s even easier to feel like a loser and like you’ll never catch up. Facebook makes it seem like everyone else is living a Disney story except you. The reality is everyone has a cross to bear. If you aren’t careful these feelings can quickly turn to envy. Here is a great test to see if you suffer with envy on Facebook: Have you ever withheld a “like” from a post?

Why did you do that? Obviously it was posted because they wanted the world to rejoice with them. Did you withhold the “like” because you secretly wished it happened to you instead? Or maybe you withheld the “like” because it seems like their life is a little too perfect. It’s easy to do and subtle. The problem isn’t so much that it happened to our friend, but that it didn’t happen to us. The crazy thing is this person that we are comparing ourself to can’t do anything to change our situation to make our status like theirs. The problem resides in our hearts, not theirs.

The problem we are suffering from is envy. Envy asks, “Why them?” Gratitude asks, “Why me?” Envy can seem petty, like something from middle school, but it really is a big deal.

So what do we do?

Rule #5: Thou shalt rejoice with those who rejoice

Romans 12:15 Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.

Envy is the opposite of this verse. Envy rejoices when your enemy weeps. When you can celebrate with those who celebrate you are winning against envy.

-Rejoice when someone else is pregnant and you want to be.
-Rejoice when another friend gets engaged and you would just love a date.
-Rejoice when your friend gets a promotion that you were working for.
-Rejoice when others see a dream come true even though your dream is dying.

Maybe you are reading this and thinking…yeah but I’ll be faking it. Isn’t that wrong too? What I’ve found is that feelings always follow actions. You act your way into a feeling. Your feelings are usually the last thing to come around. If our moms only took care of us when she felt like it…none of us would be here. Living your life based on your feelings is a primary characteristic of immaturity.

It takes maturity to be grateful, but it takes a deep person to be grateful for what God has done in someone else’s life that you wished was happening in yours. Be a deep person.

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