Smart Phones Good or Evil

Are smart phones good or evil?

I think the answer is YES!

Waaay back in the 90’s Biblical femininity was under attack just as it is today. It was difficult to find like-minded ladies anywhere. The Internet was in its infancy, but even in the early stages it allowed us to find encouragement and gain inspiration from one another. Smart phones are an extension of this ability. I am so glad God has seen fit to allow this innovation into our lives to counter the ways modernity has tried to separate and weaken us.

When you stop and think about it, smart phones are just like many modern inventions such as:

• Guns
• Sewing machines
• Cars
• Planes
• Telephones (the old, “dumb” ones)

The all have their positive and negative sides. Even food, although it is not an invention but an essential for life, has its good and bad effects on us.

The one element that determines whether something is good or evil is this:

SELF CONTROL

Without self control almost anything becomes destructive; you can die from an overdose of water or oxygen. Fire can warm your house and cook your food or it can burn your house and your body.

Guns can defend you from ravenous animals and marauders, or it can murder and maim innocents. Sewing machines lightened manual labor, but it also stole jobs from mothers at home who supplemented the household income by hand sewing garments.

Automobiles can rush someone to the hospital and save a life, but they can also crash and make it necessary for people to go to the hospital.

Smart phones are the same. They can:

• Encourage or discourage,
• Inform or deceive,
• Strengthen relationships or destroy relationships,
• Connect us or isolate us.

But, as usual, all of this depends on our own choices.

The good news is that even though “they” (you know, the social engineers and other despotic types) desire to enslave us with smart phones, “they” are mistaken. This is because their godless premise keeps them from realizing the truth of God.

People such as B. F. Skinner (noted behaviorist) believe we are like dogs, programmable via a series of rewards and punishments to do the will of whoever is in charge. To these individuals, technology is their conduit for the enslavement of mankind.

But there is a God in heaven, and He is never surprised or dismayed by the efforts of evil people. He is always a million steps ahead, and while “they” are huddled together planning and tinkering with the tools of their trade, “they” don’t see all of the things God is doing through them!

Why do the nations rage,
And the people plot a vain thing?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
And the rulers take counsel together,
Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,
“Let us break Their bonds in pieces
And cast away Their cords from us.”

He who sits in the heavens shall laugh;
The Lord shall hold them in derision.
Then He shall speak to them in His wrath,
And distress them in His deep displeasure:
“Yet I have set My King
On My holy hill of Zion.”

“I will declare the decree:
The Lord has said to Me,
‘You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.

Ask of Me, and I will give You
The nations for Your inheritance,
And the ends of the earth for Your possession.
You shall break them with a rod of iron;
You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’ ”

Now therefore, be wise, O kings;
Be instructed, you judges of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear,
And rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son, lest He be angry,
And you perish in the way,
When His wrath is kindled but a little.
Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.

Psalm 2

Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.

2 Corinthians 2:14

For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:38-39

While smart phones make it easier to gain access to filthy, negative content, it is also easier to access the Bible, sermons, testimonies, encouragement, and knowledge that helps us with godly, practical living (God’s Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven). Christians can make connections and find fellowship all over the globe. Information and revelation is shared that strengthen us in the Lord.

For instance, in immoral circles Instagram is known for erotic content, but there is a totally different side of the platform where Biblically-minded women find encouragement and fellowship.

In order to take what has been meant for evil and use it for good we need is to develop strategies:

1.Exercise self-control by tapping into the fruit of the Spirit via the new man.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

2 Corinthians 5:17

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

Galatians 5:22-23

2. Have a purpose.

Getting on a smart phone is a lot like stepping into Walmart or Target with a credit card. You have to have a list and stick to your list in order to get out of that store without getting into trouble, since all of the displays are meant to keep you from thinking before you plunk down your plastic. We have to avoid “floating” on our phones. We need to always have a specific purpose before we start mindlessly scrolling, and if we find ourselves getting lost we will have a plan to get back to. It may be helpful to write a list down or set a timer before we begin.

3. Avoid temptation.

Think of ways to keep your eyes and your mind from areas that flash the bad in front of you. Keep off of social media platforms that are overtly subversive and time-wasting. Or, you can pay for a premium account to get rid of the ads entirely (our homeschooling daughter has a premium YouTube subscription for this reason and considers this to be part of her homeschool budget).

Also, content creators are taught to craft titles and thumbnails that grab peoples’ attention by using fear and curiosity. If it isn’t something you are already interested in, don’t click on it just to investigate or the algorithm of the platform will think you are interested and you will be assaulted continually with more of the same (as in those who find Instagram to be wholesome and others find it slimy).

4. Have regular “fastings.”

Take a day each week and keep your phone off, or don’t allow yourself to get on social media except for a few hours on the weekend. This way you can take advantage of the positive aspects of your smart phone without allowing it to take over your life.

5. Have alternatives handy.

Lots of time we use our smart phones as time-fillers. While we are waiting at an appointment, while watching the children swing at the park, etc. Instead of reaching for our phones we could:

• Read a novel or nonfiction book.
• Go over some scripture cards for meditation and memorization.
• Play a musical instrument (having my guitar set out for times I am waiting for someone to go somewhere or something to be done in the kitchen has been a great help).
• Keep handicraft projects close by. Whether it is embroidery, knitting, macrame, sketching, etc., it’s great to have something at hand that engages your hands and helps order your mind while also creating something useful for others.

6. Use it like a radio.

This is one of the marvelous benefits of smart phones. One of our daughters gifted the family with a premium Spotify membership, so we can play music and podcasts to our hearts’ content while working, driving, resting, etc. without being assaulted by ads. I like to listen while I am washing dishes, folding clothes, or taking someone back and forth to work.

I have actually recorded my thoughts on this and published them as a podcast. You can listen via this link or wherever you get your podcasts:

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What are some of the ways smart phones have benefited your life as a Christian woman?