We might be a month late, and you may be feeling defeated having failed to last even January with the resolutions you made, but I’d like to encourage you to consider some digital resolutions for the coming year.
‘But aren’t New Year’s resolutions a secular idea, and should we as Christians really buy into them?’
The start of a new year gives an opportunity to pause, reflect and review areas of our lives where God may be prompting us to change. Sure, there’s no particular reason we have to do it now, but we shouldn’t despise the calendar either. Just as a start of a new week can be a good time to review the last seven days and look forward, so a new year affords the same opportunity. Of course, it is important to remember that real change must be founded on the work of the Spirit and a reliance on Him and God’s word, not ourselves, but that doesn’t negate the importance of engaging our hearts, minds and wills. Here are two areas to get you thinking:
1. Take control of your device
The open secret from Silicon Valley is that tech companies are fighting to control our attention – and they are winning. It is not scaremongering to say that the big firms employ psychologists who seek to manipulate our ‘reward response’ to get us hooked. And they are very good at it. A recent 2017 World Health Organisation report found that there has been a steep increase since 2002 in the number of children using their devices for two hours or more on weekdays, with the trends similarly stark amongst most adults. Parents often despair of how to help their children but here are some pointers:
• Help your children by helping yourself. If you can’t manage your own screen time then your children will see through your inauthenticity.
• Have you reflected on your own habits? If you are a parent, why not share with your children things you have noticed about yourself? Modelling authentic change is powerful.
• Shape the home environment. All homes have boundaries (feet off the table, no sweets before dinner, etc.) so why not set some digital boundaries?
• Go off-grid together. When are all the devices switched off so as a family/household you can all be undisturbed? A Sabbath rest from our screens is liberating.
• Total exclusion zone. Where do you leave your smartphone when you go to bed? There are many studies linking bad sleep to having your phone next to your bed. Plug it in downstairs, unplug from your emails, instant messages and social media and see the difference it makes.
2. Change the conversation
2019 was not a good year for civil conversation. The tone of the public discourse became ever more febrile with politicians, commentators, celebrities, and the general public, failing to exhibit that simple but profound virtue, kindness (Eph. 4:32).
• Get out of your echo chamber. Recognise that social media pushes to your feed the views that you ‘like’, and so you are often just having caricatures reinforced. Spend time speaking with or reading feeds from those you disagree with, and as you do so really try to listen and see what the merits of their view are.
• Take the conversation offline. Don’t you hate it when someone says something important to you over text or instant message? The truth is we often do that because it’s an easy way for us to hide from the interaction. For many conversations, face to face is best. Think to yourself, how would you like this to be communicated to you, and do likewise – it is a key part of loving your neighbour.
