Practical Ways to Honor God With Your Phone

Honoring God doesn’t start and end with attending church, reading your Bible, worshiping, or going to Bible study. Honoring God starts in our hearts, and how we use our time, body, talents, and money all play a big part. And since we all spend a lot of time on our phones (and the internet can sometimes lead to places you didn’t intend to be), we need to be equipped as believers to know how to avoid the pitfalls that can be found at our fingertips.

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 
making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.
Ephesians 5:15-16

Using Social Media For God 

While there’s obvious harm found online/on your phone, there’s also obvious value. Using the Internet is inevitable, so it’s not “should we or shouldn’t we?” but “how can we do it well?” 

While it’s not inherently safe to be on social media, you can improve your odds by having a plan and some awareness. After all, you wouldn’t go white-water rafting without a life vest. The same goes for social media—you need precautions. 

Here are 6 practical ways you can honor God with your phone:

1. Train your algorithm: The more you watch certain kinds of content, the more your feed will show you what you actually want to see. 
2. Identify vulnerable times: If you struggle with viewing pornography (or even just content you know you shouldn’t be looking at), don’t keep your phone next to you at night. If you often waste hours scrolling on social media, set time limits. 
3. Get accountability: If you generally struggle with the dark side of being online, set up a rhythm of accountability with someone who checks in with you about it. 
4. Hide ads and accounts: When the wrong things pop up, take time to tap “not interested,” “suggest less,” “hide this ad,” etc. so that it appears in your feed less. 
5. Hit the unfollow button: If you follow anyone who doesn’t add value to your life, unfollow them—whether they’re public figures, friends, or brands. 
6. Enter your flip phone era: If your smartphone is doing more harm than good, maybe it’s best to get a flip phone, at least for a season. 

If you’re following someone or your algorithm exposes you to negativity, terrible language, or content that’s not safe for work, you’re better off without it. It all comes down to how much you want something. Matthew explains it pretty well in chapter 5: 

If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
Matthew 5:29

THINK Before You Post

When it comes to honoring God on social media, ask yourself, What am I contributing to this space? Before you post, ask if what you’re about to post is…

• True
• Helpful
• Inspiring
• Necessary
• Kind 

Does the content you want to publish honor authority, uplift others, and add to the Body of Christ? 

Practical Ways to Protect the Kids

Whether you’re a parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, foster parent, teacher, or babysitter, there are plenty of ways to protect the kids in your life. One of the most important ways you can Get There First for the next generation is to protect them from the dangers of pornography. 

In a 2023 study from Common Sense Media entitled “Teens and Pornography,” they surveyed teens from ages 13-17 in the U.S. to understand how they interact with online porn. Some key findings: 

• 73% reported seeing online porn. 
• Of those, 54% saw it by age 13 and 15% saw it for the first time before age 11. 
• 29% reported coming across pornography accidentally. 

There are several tech safeguards you can put in place to protect your kids. For instance, OurPact is a parental control and family locator app that puts parents in control of how much time their kids spend online, as well as what types of content and apps they can use. You can block apps, filter websites, and supervise and protect your kids from predators. In addition to setting the time of day or how long your kids have access, you can see everything they do—it takes screenshots on the phone 24/7. 

Another possibility is to limit access to their phones. Perhaps you want your pre-teen to put their phones and tablets on chargers in the kitchen at 8:30PM so they don’t have them late at night. As they get older, maybe change it to 9PM, then 10PM. 

Even before software or time limits come into play, open the door for communication. By creating a space and a place to have honest and open conversations, you’re making it easy for them to come to you for hard things. The goal should be for kids to feel comfortable enough to approach you if something bad pops up on their phone and say, “Hey, this happened and I wanted to let you know about it,” rather than “I hate you, get out of my room!”  

An important conversation to have is how early to let your kids even have a phone. As their guardians, it’s important to discuss what the appropriate age is. 

Practical Ways to Protect Yourself 

Kids aren’t the only vulnerable demographic for the dangers online. If you’re struggling with a porn addiction, you can add some accountability with something like Covenant Eyes, which uses software to monitor and protect you from porn. It keeps you accountable by sending someone a daily report with screenshots. 

Since the Church should be the safest place to have the hardest conversations, Christian support groups are a place where you don't have to have these conversations alone! No matter where you are in life or your walk with God, these support groups are a place to find people who will encourage you and help you in your growth. If you’d like to join a men’s or women’s group at Christ Fellowship to break free from pornography, sign up here.

If you’re married, practice full transparency by letting your spouse know your password and keeping your phone out in the open. After all, if you’re hiding it, there may be some issues. 

God is Not the God of Shame

There is, therefore, now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus...
Romans 8:1

God does not condemn or shame you if you have been exposed to something negative or if you struggle with something like porn. He wants to free you from that! 

If your hurts, hang-ups, or habits are holding you back from the life God has for you, consider attending Celebrate Recovery for an uplifting time of worship, teaching, and community in this Christ-centered 12-step recovery program. It’s available at several Christ Fellowship locations on Tuesday and Thursday nights.

There’s also a Celebrate Recovery for students called The Landing at two locations on Tuesday nights, where CFStudents can attend a safe place to process life and struggles that accompany it. They’ll receive tools to live emotionally and spiritually healthy lives, and find freedom in Christ.

More On the Table Series Resources