Too many youth hide behind their phones. We spend countless hours on social media, scrolling through photos instead of stepping into deeper relationships with people. We forget how to have real conversations because we just text all the time. Having conversations over the phone has become easier than talking in person. We miss too many things that are occurring right in front of our face because we don’t look up. Life becomes more about consuming than creating and we use up all of our energy on pointless stuff. We choose phones and televisions over people because it’s easier. Our generation is falling quickly into people who are consumed by their phones and people who are forgetting to live the life that is right in front of them. If we don’t start becoming a unplugged generation, we will miss out on numerous opportunities and relationships that could’ve been more.
Growing up, I didn’t have any phone or computer. My sisters and I went outside, played barbies, hung out with friends, made pretend, and more. I was a kid who was present with the people in front of her. My sisters and I got really close from the time spent together. Now, kids invite friends over and play video games together and teenagers invite their friends over and simply sit on their phones the whole time. We have forgotten how to entertain people without a screen. We have forgotten to truly spend time with people and it has hurt the authenticity of a lot of friendships.
I was a girl who was always on my phone. I would hide behind my phone during awkward situations, use my phone when friends were over, sit on my phone at the dinner table, be distracted by my phone during an important conversation, spend any free time on my phone or watching television, etc. People pointed it out to me many times that I was on my phone a lot. It hurt to hear, but I never did anything about it.
While being on the race, my phone has been out of my hand most times. During normal hours of the day, when I am out of my room, I never have my phone on me. I sit at mealtimes and engage in conversations because I’m not distracted by my phone. I get to have good conversations with my teammates because I am not distracted by my phone. I get to be present in ministry and with the kids because I’m not distracted by my phone. I’ve learned that phones aren’t necessary. I haven’t needed my phone on the race but to call my family, listen to music, and post updates. While in Africa, I really got a taste of the benefits of being unplugged.
I loved Africa because life was simple. We didn’t have service in Africa so we spent our days hanging out with each other and building relationships with the people we lived with. It was such a fruitful 3 months of trusting in God that my family was okay and focusing on where I was at that moment. At home, I was too worried about missing a call from someone or not being caught up on the latest on Instagram and Facebook. I was so invested into the lives of people I barely knew and neglected the relationships right in front of me. My neglecting caused divisions in my friendships, surface-level conversations, “not enough time” to hang out, and me misrepresenting God in my day-to-day relationships.
And then I remembered that I’m not the only one. Many people every day neglect the people and opportunities right in front of them because they’re plugged into the wrong things. Our generation is missing out on a lot of life that God has to offer because we hide behind something we think can do everything for us. We idolize our phones too much and give them too much time out of our day. Don’t you think if we all unplugged from our phones and walked through our days without distractions that we’d get more out of life and be able to love others better?
There’s so much more we’re missing out on. When I get home, I am going to step into abandoning my phone for anything other than productivity. If you’d like to join me in this, please let me know so I can be encouraging you and praying for you. Let’s stop hiding behind what we think is life and start embracing all of the good things God has in front of us if we choose to put down the phone.
