Latest / Your Hope-Filled Perspective with Dr. Michelle Bengtson podcast / How to Break Free from Digital Overload: A Christian Guide to Healthy Social Media Use

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How to Break Free from Digital Overload: A Christian Guide to Healthy Social Media Use · Your Hope-Filled Perspective with Dr. Michelle Bengtson podcast

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Life audio.
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  Speaker 2: In a world where constant notifications, curated feeds, and digital
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  Speaker 2: pressure shape how we see ourselves, many are left feeling anxious, isolated,
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  Speaker 2: and distracted than ever. We long for a life that
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  Speaker 2: is full of deep connection with God, ourselves, and others,
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  Speaker 2: and yet we've become programmed to seek peace, contentment, and
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  Speaker 2: happiness in our phones. Deep down, we know that this
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  Speaker 2: isn't how we were created to live. As endless scrolling
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: leaves us feeling anxious, depressed, distracted, and alone. We realize
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  Speaker 2: our true needs can't be met by turning to digital
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  Speaker 2: media in every slow, mundane moment. If you feel like
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  Speaker 2: your digital life could use a reset, this is the
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  Speaker 2: episode for you. Welcome to your Hope filled Perspective with
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  Speaker 2: doctor Michelle bankson where it's our goal to restore hope,
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  Speaker 2: renew minds, and empower listeners to live in your God
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: given identity. I'm so thankful when you take a few
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  Speaker 2: minutes out of your week to spend with us today.
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  Speaker 2: We're talking about an important topic. We are going to
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  Speaker 2: talk about how to break free from digital overload, basically
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  Speaker 2: a Christian guide to healthy social media use. We'll dive
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  Speaker 2: into that right after this brief word from our sponsor.
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  Speaker 2: In this episode of Your Hope Filled Perspective, we are
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  Speaker 2: going to talk about how to break free from digital overload.
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  Speaker 2: Consider it basically a Christian guide to healthy social media use.
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  Speaker 2: Social media can so easily steal our peace, distort our identity,
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  Speaker 2: and drain the joy God intends for us, especially when
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  Speaker 2: we're already struggling with things like anxiety, insecurity, or loneliness.
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  Speaker 2: That is why I am delighted to welcome Ali Marie Smith.
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  Speaker 2: She is the author of Social Media Reset, a thirty
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  Speaker 2: day guide journey to unplug, reconnect with God, and reclaim
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  Speaker 2: your joy. Ali has spent years helping women cultivate mental, emotional,
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  Speaker 2: and spiritual wellness, and her newsbook offers up practical and
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  Speaker 2: faith field path to break free from digital overwhelm and
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  Speaker 2: rediscover God's voice above the noise. It might sound trite,
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  Speaker 2: but I really feel like Romans twelve two summarizes what
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  Speaker 2: we're talking about today, and that says, do not conform
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  Speaker 2: to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by
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  Speaker 2: the renewing of your mind. Ali Marie Smith is an
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  Speaker 2: award winning author, speaker, and life coach. She is also
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  Speaker 2: the founder and CEO a Wonderfully Made, a national nonprofit
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  Speaker 2: organization dedicated to helping girls and women know their God
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  Speaker 2: given value and lead flourishing lives. She lives in Santa
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  Speaker 2: Barbara County, where she loves riding, playing with horses, surfing,
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  Speaker 2: and adventuring up and down the California coast. Welcome Allie, Hi.
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  Speaker 1: Doctor Michelle.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you so much for having me. I loved having
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  Speaker 3: you on our Wonderfully Made podcast as well, so it's
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  Speaker 3: such an honor to be here. And I'm excited to
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  Speaker 3: dive into this topic with you today.
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: And friends, if you listen to the episode, we'll put
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: it in the show notes so that you can find it.
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: Because Ellie and I became connected quite a while ago,
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: but I was excited when her book came across my desk,
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: and if I'm being honest with you, at the start, Allie,
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  Speaker 2: it was pretty convicting. Frequently our books, our resources, or
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: our ministries, our birth out of our own needs, our
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: own pain, our own heartache. It often becomes the book
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  Speaker 2: we wish we'd had. So what inspired you to write
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  Speaker 2: Social Media Reset? And why did you feel this message
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  Speaker 2: was needed?
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  Speaker 3: Now? I got my first social media a count Facebook
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  Speaker 3: right when it came out in two thousand and four,
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  Speaker 3: and you had to have a dot edu email address
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  Speaker 3: to actually use it. So I use it for a while.
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  Speaker 3: It was fun, and then fast forward, Instagram came out.
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  Speaker 1: It was fun. You would just post pictures. You didn't really.
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  Speaker 3: Think about who was following you, how many lives you got.
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  Speaker 3: But as the algorithms change and they designed it to
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  Speaker 3: be addictive, I really did become addicted and IMpower my
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  Speaker 3: daily life. It really negatively impacted.
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  Speaker 1: My well being.
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  Speaker 3: I was constantly refreshing my screen how many likes did
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  Speaker 3: I get? With stiff neck, and wasn't looking outside the
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  Speaker 3: car window as much. I was picking up my phone
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  Speaker 3: hundreds of times a day, and I realized.
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  Speaker 1: It was making me bummed out. It was making me anxious.
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  Speaker 3: It was making me awake to other people's lives, even strangers' lives,
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  Speaker 3: but I was feeling asleep to my own precious life
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  Speaker 3: and all the work I do from starting the ministry
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  Speaker 3: wonderfully made at the age of twenty was born out
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  Speaker 3: of my own story, and so I had struggled with
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  Speaker 3: severe depression and nearly lost my life to suicide attempt
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  Speaker 3: at the age of eighteen and twenty one.
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  Speaker 1: And you know, God saved my life and he didn't
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  Speaker 1: have to.
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  Speaker 3: And so I see every second of my life as
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  Speaker 3: sacred and I don't want to waste a single second.
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  Speaker 3: So when I realized, Michelle, I was on track, It's
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  Speaker 3: been over five years of my life scrolling in a
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  Speaker 3: virtual world I wasn't created to live in.
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  Speaker 1: I put my phone down.
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  Speaker 3: I apologize, and I took all the apps off my phone,
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  Speaker 3: and I've learned to use them with boundary. Social media
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  Speaker 3: with boundaries no way that I use it in a
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  Speaker 3: good way. I get the most out of it. But
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  Speaker 3: I ditched all the junks.
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  Speaker 1: So it did come.
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  Speaker 3: Like you said, our books can often come from personal experiences,
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  Speaker 3: and I just see today how negatively.
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  Speaker 1: Effect it has affected people.
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  Speaker 3: I've worked with girls from the age of eighteen, and
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  Speaker 3: today's mental health crisis that is facing teen girls today
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  Speaker 3: is directly caused from social media. The suicide rate went
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  Speaker 3: up around from twenty ten twenty twenty over like one
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  Speaker 3: hundred and fifty one percent, and today one in threeteen
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  Speaker 3: girls seriously contemplate attempting suicide. So that's a whole other
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  Speaker 3: reason I want to see girls unplug. I want to
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  Speaker 3: see them get their joy back, return to the kind
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  Speaker 3: of life we are created for.
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  Speaker 2: Isn't that just how the enemy works? So many things
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  Speaker 2: come about as advances in society and they can be
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  Speaker 2: used for good, but then the enemy collops them and
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  Speaker 2: turns them for our harm. I came to social media
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  Speaker 2: kicking and screaming when I don't even remember what year
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  Speaker 2: I joined. It was probably ten years ago, but I
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  Speaker 2: remember thinking, I don't want to tell people when I'm
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  Speaker 2: going to Walmart, and I don't want to post pictures
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  Speaker 2: of my meal. But I sensed that if I allowed
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  Speaker 2: God to it could be another form of ministry. And
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  Speaker 2: it has been allie, but there is that addictive component.
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  Speaker 2: So I want to talk with you about You've been
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  Speaker 2: very transparent, but how has your personal relationship with social
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  Speaker 2: media influenced maybe your spiritual journey, or your emotional journey,
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  Speaker 2: or your own mental health journey, because you've been very
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  Speaker 2: honest about how you've struggled in the past.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: So when I was in my full on social media addiction,
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  Speaker 3: the anxiety I was experiencing was heightened, my mood was lower.
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  Speaker 3: I was very self focused. I was constantly concerned with
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  Speaker 3: the curiosity of I wonder what people think about me.
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  Speaker 3: I wonder when I post this photo, what they're going
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  Speaker 3: to think about me. Oh, I didn't get enough likes,
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  Speaker 3: I better take it down. It kept me self focused.
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  Speaker 3: I was ruminating on things that I was insecure about
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  Speaker 3: picking up my phone. Like I said, hundreds of times,
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  Speaker 3: I wasn't present in my own life.
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  Speaker 1: I wasn't even.
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  Speaker 3: Present for my husband and for my friends, and I
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  Speaker 3: just I just got sick of it.
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  Speaker 1: I just didn't like. I just felt sick inside. My
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  Speaker 1: soul felt unwell, it.
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  Speaker 3: Felt full of inks, and I just felt sick.
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  Speaker 1: And so what I did, like I said, is.
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  Speaker 3: I took a long break and that broke my dependency
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  Speaker 3: on it. And then I did one thing which is
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  Speaker 3: pretty radical that most of a lot of people don't
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  Speaker 3: think about, is I just deleted all the apps off
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  Speaker 3: my phone.
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  Speaker 1: And I haven't had them on my phone for over
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  Speaker 1: twelve years.
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  Speaker 3: But I access social media through my computer and my
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  Speaker 3: iPad because I'm not going to be carrying that around
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  Speaker 3: with me day to day. So now I will say
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  Speaker 3: I don't have a perfect relationship with social media, even
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  Speaker 3: though I use it minimally and intentionally, I can will
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  Speaker 3: get caught up in it, Michelle. It impacts each one
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  Speaker 3: of us on such a profound level, on a soul
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  Speaker 3: level and a spiritual level, an emotional level, even in
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  Speaker 3: our brains and in our bodies. And so today, outside
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  Speaker 3: of my social media addiction, I feel present, I feel grateful,
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  Speaker 3: I feel wide awake to my own life, and I
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  Speaker 3: use it in a very countercultural way. I hardly even
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  Speaker 3: look at friends updates or photos.
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  Speaker 1: I just want to be.
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  Speaker 3: Alive, to awake to my life, and it allows me
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  Speaker 3: to do better work. And there's just more of a
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  Speaker 3: piece in my day to day life and my soul
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  Speaker 3: that I did not have when I was consumed by
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  Speaker 3: all those notifications and the endless scrolling.
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  Speaker 2: What do you see as the biggest spiritual danger of
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  Speaker 2: unchecked social media use.
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  Speaker 3: The first one that comes to mind is that famous quote.
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  Speaker 3: We know comparison is a thief of joy, but in
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  Speaker 3: the Book of Proverbs it says we wrought the bones,
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  Speaker 3: and God has given each one of us a life,
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  Speaker 3: a precious life, and he didn't have to create us.
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  Speaker 3: It's an honor to have a heartbeat and to have
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  Speaker 3: breath in our lungs and So when we fall asleep
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  Speaker 3: to the good gifts, the blessings in our life, and
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  Speaker 3: we take our eyes off of Christ and off of
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  Speaker 3: the good things around us, and we fix our gaze
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  Speaker 3: on watching other people's lives unfold.
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  Speaker 1: On a screen.
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  Speaker 3: As our own lives go neglected, it kills us spiritually.
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  Speaker 3: We're catapulted into a spiritual slumber, and it is truly devastating.
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  Speaker 3: And we know there's a lot of talk about what
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  Speaker 3: it does to our mental health, but there's a lack
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  Speaker 3: of conversation about what it does to our souls.
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  Speaker 1: And so I love, I love exploring that.
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  Speaker 2: Why do you think so many Christians feel disconnected from
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  Speaker 2: God even while they're constantly connected online?
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  Speaker 3: Well, I love thinking of John fifteen. Jesus is a
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  Speaker 3: vine and we are the branches, and we are made
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  Speaker 3: to remain in Him, to abide in Him. And I
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  Speaker 3: found it's really difficult to abide in Christ when we
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  Speaker 3: have this handheld slot machine as our fifth appendage, and
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  Speaker 3: it goes everywhere we go, and it's constantly giving you notifications,
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  Speaker 3: and in those precious in between moments of our lives,
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  Speaker 3: we look here, we look at our phone, we look
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  Speaker 3: at our screen, we look at strangers' lives, we look
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  Speaker 3: at celebrities lives, we look at glimpses of wars and devastation.
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  Speaker 1: And we don't look up. We don't look around.
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  Speaker 3: There's that monastic practice of statio, and what it is
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  Speaker 3: is just the in between moments of our lives where
• 10:50
  Speaker 3: we have the opportunity. Within those in between moments, say
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  Speaker 3: from doing dishes, to going to your car, to recognize God,
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  Speaker 3: to honor God, to thank God, to praise Him, to
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  Speaker 3: meditate on a verse. But what we're doing instead every
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  Speaker 3: Monday moment, we're picking up that phone. The average adult
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  Speaker 3: has over one hundred phone pickups a day, check their
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  Speaker 3: phones and average every ten minutes. And so we're missing
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  Speaker 3: those opportunities to have a direct messaging with God.
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  Speaker 1: Right where we have all these dms, right.
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  Speaker 3: We're d mding all these people, But are we direct
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  Speaker 3: messaging to God? And that was one thing that just
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  Speaker 3: transformed when I took those apps off my phone and
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  Speaker 3: I put social media in place. I'm constantly talking to God.
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  Speaker 3: I'm constantly praising him and thanking him.
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  Speaker 2: I remember years ago when I was working at the
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  Speaker 2: hospital and I how long commute about forty five minutes
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  Speaker 2: each way without traffic, and this was pre social media
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  Speaker 2: for me, and it was such a beautiful time because
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  Speaker 2: every day on the way to work, I just have
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  Speaker 2: this long prayer time time with God. And now you
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: receive text messages while you're driving, in phone calls while
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: you're driving. Back then, I didn't even have a cell
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: phone in my car. So I've seen such a shift.
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  Speaker 2: And I have some concerns about this current younger generation
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: because they haven't known life pre digital age. And we're
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: going to talk more about how to break free from
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  Speaker 2: digital overload right after this brief word from our sponsor, Allie,
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  Speaker 2: help us to understand how a social media reset can
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  Speaker 2: even restore our identity in Christ.
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  Speaker 3: Before I get there and talk about our identity in Christ,
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  Speaker 3: studies just show research shows after one day, two day,
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  Speaker 3: three days a week off social media, anxiety levels instantly
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  Speaker 3: go down, happiness goes up, and our brains neuropathways are
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  Speaker 3: able to be reset. And in regards to our identity
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  Speaker 3: and Christ, when we take a break, we're no longer
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  Speaker 3: concerned with.
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  Speaker 1: The lives of other people.
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  Speaker 3: We are present for our own lives, and we're more
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  Speaker 3: able to believe who God says we are rather than
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  Speaker 3: to be deceived, because we give the enemy the evil
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  Speaker 3: on a foothold. When we are exposed to the daily
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  Speaker 3: ins and outs of the most beautiful, richest people who
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  Speaker 3: have things that you want, or you're comparing your life
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  Speaker 3: to them, that gives the enemy and opportunity to really
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  Speaker 3: come in. And actually, what it even does to our
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  Speaker 3: brain is it activates the default mode network in our brain,
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  Speaker 3: which actually causes rumination, which can cause self doubt and insecurity.
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  Speaker 3: And so once again it reconnects us with God. It
• 13:44
  Speaker 3: draws us close to God, to the beauty and the
• 13:46
  Speaker 3: miracle of our own lives. And what's great about the
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  Speaker 3: book is really, yes, you take thirty days to unplug
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  Speaker 3: and you.
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  Speaker 1: Can do the best you can.
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  Speaker 3: And some people need use social media for work, so
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  Speaker 3: I talk about that. But it's really like a life
• 13:59
  Speaker 3: coaching journey full of scripture, and it's an opportunity to
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  Speaker 3: show up for your own life with a new level
• 14:07
  Speaker 3: of excitement and intentionality and joy. And it's filled with
• 14:11
  Speaker 3: truth about our identity in Christ. So it allows us
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  Speaker 3: to quiet all outside noise and all the voices and
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  Speaker 3: get in the word of God.
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  Speaker 1: And God tells us who.
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  Speaker 3: We are, and he invites us into a better, though
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  Speaker 3: and popular way of life and shows us who we
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  Speaker 3: are and who we can be more fully alive versions
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  Speaker 3: of ourselves who are truly living the kind of life
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  Speaker 3: we're created for because we're so far removed from it.
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  Speaker 3: And social media is a world we were not designed
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  Speaker 3: to live in, and it's making us unwell and body, mind, spirit,
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  Speaker 3: and in our soul.
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  Speaker 2: So I'm thinking about the listener or reviewer that says, oh,
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: but I don't, I don't have an issue with that.
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  Speaker 2: What signs should someone look for that indicate it might
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: be time for a social media break or reset?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, And I love encouraging people to look at your
• 15:03
  Speaker 3: screen time, good to your settings, because awareness is really
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  Speaker 3: important because we can come so used to it that
• 15:10
  Speaker 3: we lose sight of really how much time we're actually
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  Speaker 3: spending on these apps. When it is a compulsion where
• 15:16
  Speaker 3: it's just like a habit, you're just constantly reaching for it.
• 15:19
  Speaker 3: You're bored where you go, you go to your phone.
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  Speaker 3: How do you feel when you walk away from scrolling?
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  Speaker 3: Feeling kind of yucky?
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  Speaker 1: Like I did. It's something you think about even when
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: you're not on it.
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  Speaker 3: I know, that was something I would you say, the
• 15:34
  Speaker 3: idea there's like the idea of being forever elsewhere, like
• 15:37
  Speaker 3: we can be in the present moment because but because
• 15:41
  Speaker 3: of the chaos of social media, which is so overwhelming,
• 15:44
  Speaker 3: we're in a virtual world. Even in our head, we're
• 15:47
  Speaker 3: forever elsewhere. And so that's another thing you find yourself
• 15:50
  Speaker 3: thinking about whose pictures you saw, what's going on in line?
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  Speaker 3: And am I missing out on anything? So those are
• 15:56
  Speaker 3: just a few of many, many signs. And I do
• 15:59
  Speaker 3: teach about more about that and how to know if
• 16:02
  Speaker 3: you really have an addiction too.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, so important. Friends, I'm going to encourage you to
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: go to the show notes that you can find at
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: doctor michelleb dot com because we'll put all the information
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: about Allie and her ministry and her book Social Media Reset.
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: It's one you're gonna want for the new year, I
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: promise Allie. In this process and it does sound like
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: it was a process for you coming to the realization
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: that all that digital time was not healthy and learning
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: how do I cope with that? To taking it off
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: your phone? What did you learn about God or your
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: identity or purpose through your journey of unplugging?
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  Speaker 3: It left me It's made me more in awe of
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  Speaker 3: God because I'm not looking down. I'm looking up at
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  Speaker 3: His beauty, at His creation, and I'm just have so
• 16:51
  Speaker 3: much more wonder and a life of whimsy. I say,
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  Speaker 3: I have a chapter called Whimsy, Wonder, Rest, and Play,
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  Speaker 3: and it's returning to that life life.
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  Speaker 1: So definitely being more.
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  Speaker 3: In awe of God, like I said, more firmly planted
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  Speaker 3: in my identity in Christ because I'm no longer concerned
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  Speaker 3: with imaginary thoughts I think people are having about me
• 17:12
  Speaker 3: or judging what I post, because when we post online,
• 17:15
  Speaker 3: we can actually feel very very self conscious and expose
• 17:18
  Speaker 3: and like I shared before, that can keep us really
• 17:21
  Speaker 3: thinking about ourselves. And I'll tell you what Michelle from
• 17:23
  Speaker 3: my own story dealing with depression insecurity. The more that
• 17:27
  Speaker 3: I focus on myself, the more unwell I become. But
• 17:31
  Speaker 3: when I forget myself and I fix my eyes upon
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  Speaker 3: God and focus on loving other people and living out
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  Speaker 3: the passion, that's when I become begin to become free.
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  Speaker 2: Let's turn our conversation to talk about what boundaries around
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: social media have been most transformation on what you would recommend.
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  Speaker 3: I really encourage people to take a break especially if
• 17:55
  Speaker 3: you've been using social media for a long time. This
• 17:58
  Speaker 3: isn't a mandate invitation. God invites us into a better,
• 18:02
  Speaker 3: though unpopular way of life. And I like to encourage
• 18:05
  Speaker 3: people to think about not so much what they're leaving
• 18:09
  Speaker 3: behind or what they can't do. It's more about what
• 18:12
  Speaker 3: you're getting in exchange. It is so much better. So
• 18:16
  Speaker 3: it's not about what you're going to be missing out
• 18:17
  Speaker 3: on offline, but it's about the peace and the joy
• 18:21
  Speaker 3: and the contentment you are going to get online. So
• 18:24
  Speaker 3: definitely taking a break, a thirty day break really resets
• 18:29
  Speaker 3: your brain's neural pathways. It helps you break that addiction
• 18:33
  Speaker 3: which is so ingrained, is ingrained in most people. About
• 18:37
  Speaker 3: thirty percent people say that they are full and addicted
• 18:40
  Speaker 3: to social media.
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: So that will.
• 18:41
  Speaker 3: Arouse enough to your nervous system to calm down your
• 18:45
  Speaker 3: brain's neural pathways. I know you know all about the brain.
• 18:48
  Speaker 3: You're the brain expert. Are are well, will have less anxiety,
• 18:53
  Speaker 3: more joy. But thirty days, we'll all give the ideal
• 18:57
  Speaker 3: recipe to get the most out of this experience. So
• 19:00
  Speaker 3: as you unplug for thirty days and you invite all
• 19:03
  Speaker 3: the girls, all the women, you love to join you
• 19:07
  Speaker 3: and actually have a five week course on my website
• 19:09
  Speaker 3: that walks through this experience. But then you have this
• 19:12
  Speaker 3: amazing experience with your friends, with your Bible study, with
• 19:16
  Speaker 3: the women in your church, and you all unplugged together,
• 19:19
  Speaker 3: and you return to the kind of life we were
• 19:21
  Speaker 3: created for. See, we weren't created for this disembodied digital world.
• 19:24
  Speaker 3: We were created for an embodied life of true in
• 19:28
  Speaker 3: person connection and community we are never going to find offline.
• 19:32
  Speaker 3: So again it's not saying like, oh, I'm not going
• 19:35
  Speaker 3: to have this, it's oh, you're going to have something
• 19:37
  Speaker 3: so much better. And then after that, I list fifteen
• 19:40
  Speaker 3: boundaries in the back of the book, from more extreme
• 19:42
  Speaker 3: boundaries like me, I don't have any apps on my phone,
• 19:45
  Speaker 3: to using time limits. You can you know, check your
• 19:48
  Speaker 3: screen time. There's all sorts of time limits you can
• 19:51
  Speaker 3: put in. We do have a spirit of discipline, so
• 19:54
  Speaker 3: even though it's addictive, we can still have control over
• 19:57
  Speaker 3: social media. So it doesn't we it, so it doesn't
• 20:00
  Speaker 3: control us.
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: So I really.
• 20:02
  Speaker 3: Encourage some people think not about having it, not going
• 20:06
  Speaker 3: to the first thing in the morning, having quiet time
• 20:08
  Speaker 3: with God, not in the Evening's buffer your time maybe
• 20:12
  Speaker 3: limit your number of posts.
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: I'm just going to post once a week.
• 20:15
  Speaker 3: I'm going to post twice a week, go off on
• 20:17
  Speaker 3: the weekends, you know, keep your phone away when you're
• 20:20
  Speaker 3: with company, share your boundaries with friends for accountability. And
• 20:25
  Speaker 3: so I go into the list of fifteen boundaries because
• 20:28
  Speaker 3: I want people to zoom out.
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: And think, well, first, what kind of person.
• 20:32
  Speaker 3: Do I want to begin? What do I want my
• 20:34
  Speaker 3: legacy to be? Because when we look at social media
• 20:37
  Speaker 3: from a broader spiritual perspective, it's really going to motivate
• 20:41
  Speaker 3: us to put it in its place. Because one hour
• 20:44
  Speaker 3: a day on social media on your phone across the
• 20:46
  Speaker 3: lifespan can come out. We'll come out to three years
• 20:49
  Speaker 3: of your life. So two to four hours a day
• 20:51
  Speaker 3: will come out to four to six years of your life.
• 20:54
  Speaker 3: Four or more hours a day on your phone will
• 20:56
  Speaker 3: come out up to eleven or more years on your life. Today,
• 21:00
  Speaker 3: fifteen percent of girls are spending forty or more hours
• 21:03
  Speaker 3: a week, and we, oh, there's so much I can
• 21:06
  Speaker 3: go into about how we too can now die. We're
• 21:08
  Speaker 3: on track of dying with more memories of other people's
• 21:11
  Speaker 3: lives than our own, and that's to terrify us, So
• 21:13
  Speaker 3: we have to ask. You know, one day we're going
• 21:15
  Speaker 3: to stand before God and we're going to have to
• 21:17
  Speaker 3: give an account for how we lived our lives, how
• 21:20
  Speaker 3: we exhausted every borrowed breath He gave us. And I
• 21:23
  Speaker 3: love asking ourselves what will it What will it take
• 21:27
  Speaker 3: for you to get to the end of your life
• 21:29
  Speaker 3: and say you did all you could do with the
• 21:31
  Speaker 3: time God gave you.
• 21:33
  Speaker 2: That is definitely a convicting perspective because we are going
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: to have to take an account for how we spent
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: our time, for the words we said, for our motivations. Ellie,
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: if a listener reviewer is resonating with this conversation today,
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: what hope field perspective would you want to leave them with.
• 21:49
  Speaker 3: We do not have to conform to the patterns of
• 21:52
  Speaker 3: this world, going back to that verse who shared called
• 21:54
  Speaker 3: not to conform. And God has a better life in
• 21:58
  Speaker 3: store for us than the life the world offers us.
• 22:02
  Speaker 3: And even though you might feel stuck in a cycle
• 22:04
  Speaker 3: of scrolling or comparison, you can overcome it. You can
• 22:09
  Speaker 3: find freedom. You can put social media in its place
• 22:11
  Speaker 3: and just go for it. Try it, Grab a friend, unplugged,
• 22:15
  Speaker 3: show up to your life at a new level of
• 22:18
  Speaker 3: excitement and joy and return to God. Unfollow the ways
• 22:21
  Speaker 3: of the world and follow Christ. He'll lead us into
• 22:24
  Speaker 3: a life of peace and joy and the fullness of
• 22:27
  Speaker 3: joy in His presence.
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: So, true, friends, I want to leave you with Isaiah
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: thirty verse fifteen that says, in repentance and rest is
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: your salvation. In quietness and trust is your strength. But
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: when our lives are so busy and cluttered by spending
• 22:45
  Speaker 2: time in this digital microcosm, it's hard to be quiet,
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: it's hard to be at rest, and it's really putting
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: our trust in something or someone other than God. I'm
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: going to be working on this my own life, and
• 23:00
  Speaker 2: I encourage you to join me. If you want more
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: information about how to set those boundaries and what Ellie
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: is recommended, please go to doctor michelleb dot com and
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: click on the link for Ellie's book. We will have
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: that there. Ellie, thank you for being transparent and vulnerable
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: and sharing out of your own journey so that it
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: can encourage us to have a better here.
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: Thank you, Michelle.
• 23:24
  Speaker 3: I just want to share about our ministry for girls
• 23:27
  Speaker 3: and women, Wonderfully Made. We have a huge heart for
• 23:30
  Speaker 3: young girls. I know many of your listeners might be
• 23:32
  Speaker 3: grandma's and have granddaughters. We have so many get resources
• 23:36
  Speaker 3: for girls just to help them know there were so
• 23:39
  Speaker 3: they can visit us at Wonderfullymade dot org just to
• 23:41
  Speaker 3: get some support for girls that they love.
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: Perfect and friends. We'll make sure that we put that
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: link in the show notes as well, so everything will
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: be in one place for you friends. I really hope
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: that there was something in today's episode that encouraged you,
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: but probably even challenged you. I know it did me.
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: If there was something today that has spurred something in
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: you and you don't want to do this journey alone,
• 24:06
  Speaker 2: do like Ali suggested and get a group of your
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: friends to go through it together. But first consider sharing
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: it this episode with them so that they can see
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: the importance, so that they can see the transformation that
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: Ali talked about in her own life. I look forward
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: to being with you with another episode of your hope
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: Field perspective next week. Until then, may you quiet your mind,
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: turn off the social media, and spend more time in
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: his presence until we meet again next week. It's my
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: prayer for you that you have a hope Field week.
• 24:38
  Speaker 4: Are you for your group looking for a speaker for
• 24:41
  Speaker 4: your next event or gathering. Nothing delights Doctor Michelle bankson
• 24:45
  Speaker 4: more than connecting with her audience and sharing from her
• 24:48
  Speaker 4: professional expertise in personal experience to champion others in their journey.
• 24:53
  Speaker 4: She has spoken on a wide variety of topics including
• 24:56
  Speaker 4: Hope prevails, living the abundant life Christ came to if
• 25:00
  Speaker 4: victor not victim, rid yourself of a doubt, poisonous shame
• 25:05
  Speaker 4: and self defeat from your life, walking in the truth
• 25:09
  Speaker 4: of our identity, hope for the silent epidemic, understanding depression
• 25:14
  Speaker 4: in children and teens, and breaking anxiety script how to
• 25:18
  Speaker 4: reclaim the piece God promises. Doctor Benkson is willing to
• 25:22
  Speaker 4: tailor her message specific to your group or event. Past
• 25:27
  Speaker 4: audiences have included one hundred Hotney Street Life Today, American
• 25:32
  Speaker 4: Association of Christian Counselors, Gateway Church, Embassy City Church, Roaring Lambs,
• 25:39
  Speaker 4: and Fellowship of Professional Women, name few. Doctor Benkson is
• 25:43
  Speaker 4: now accepting invitations for speaking engagements over the next two
• 25:47
  Speaker 4: years from Beyond. For more information or to contact doctor
• 25:52
  Speaker 4: Benson to speak at your next event, reach out to
• 25:55
  Speaker 4: our staff at info at Hope Prevails dot Org. Hope
• 26:00
  Speaker 4: Prevails at texdaa dot com that's Hope Prevails at t
• 26:06
  Speaker 4: e x na nt dot com.
• 26:16
  Speaker 5: Thank you for joining doctor Banks and to your hope
• 26:19
  Speaker 5: build perspective. We hope you were encouraged by her authenticity, vulnerability,
• 26:25
  Speaker 5: and biblical truths. If you enjoy today's conversation, when you
• 26:28
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• 26:32
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  Speaker 6: or suggest a topic for a future show, reach out
• 26:49
  Speaker 6: to our staff at info at Hope Prevails dot org
• 26:53
  Speaker 6: for additional resources. Information about doctor Bankson's books where free downloads,
• 26:58
  Speaker 6: or to contact her speak at your next event, Please
• 27:02
  Speaker 6: visit doctor Mishelbe dot com. Until next time, May you
• 27:06
  Speaker 6: have a Hope billedweek.
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: I'd like to take just a second to thank the
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: team at Life Audio for their partnership with us on
• 27:16
  Speaker 2: this podcast. If you go to lifeaudio dot com, you'll
• 27:19
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• 27:23
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