My most embarrassing twitter moment was when I sent a public tweet to my husband, thinking it was a private direct message. I wrote: You cleaned the bathroom. You’re sexy.
It turned out to be my most retweeted comment.
In our electronic world, it’s tough to keep our private thoughts from going public. We send an email to the wrong person. We post a negative critique of a book only to get a note back from the author. Not so long ago, facebook had a glitch in their system that caused chat conversations to be viewable by all.
Yikes! Who wants the whole world to see the real you?
I know a kid who doesn’t mind. Zach, a college student from my church, ignored the advice of his friends and added his boss, his pastor, and his parents as facebook friends. “I want the accountability,” he told me. Knowing these people were reading his facebook page made him think twice about what he was saying … which made him think about what he was doing.
This is a not a post about social networking. It’s about living right. If the things you admitted to—whether online or at the dinner table—would get you in trouble with your boss, don’t do those things. If you would sound like a whiner listing what you can’t stand about your mother-in-law, quit allowing yourself to be bothered by her. If you don’t want people to know you were drinking last night, don’t drink.
I’m not suggesting that you create a false image of yourself; I’m encouraging you to be the person you want to project. Sound difficult? It is. But don’t give up before you start. By the grace of God, you really can do it!
May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20-21)
If you allow Christ to make your heart pure, you won’t need to worry about sending inappropriate email messages or about anyone seeing your facebook chat, because out of the heart the mouth speaks.*
Of course, it’s okay to have a private life too. I mean, I’m not gonna tell you what I wrote when Larry cleaned the whole house…
ABOUT HEATHER GEMMEN WILSON
Heather Gemmen Wilson loves to laugh. She says, "Through all the circumstances of my life, I have gained more than I have lost ... and I'm not just talking weight." Heather is married to her best...
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Well done! It is easy to only present what you want others to see.
The hard part is being who God wants you to be! :)
I love that idea! Accountability is always a good thing. Wise young man.
He sure is!
Yesterday I made another mistake: I thought I was texting my husband about my friend, but I texted her instead. So glad I had just good things to say about her!
…. mmm …. once we hit that SEND button, that’s IT! I’ve been amazed at not only what shows up online, but STAYS online … it seems like forever.
That could be bad news at some point …
Question – Would you want Grandma to read this? !!
haha! Yes, it’s always encouraging to me to see a married couple still crazy in love. :)
Nevermind that- would you want Christ to read it? ;)
If our tongues are flaming fire we really need to quench it before we speak or write- ANYTHING! It’s always good to read and reread emails and such before sending. I always do that. And if tempers have been flared, always calm down first! :)
I quit facebook not only because I was spending too much time on it, but also because I was just tired of seeing the negativity and un-Christianlike behavior from people who are supposed to be Christian.
It does indeed all come down to “being the person you want to project,” being what God intends us to be – holy. “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
I’m not perfect. Actually, I’m far from it. But God is working on me to mold me into the person He wants me to be. It’s painful, but I anxiously await completion.
LOVE this comment.
The injunction to walk circumspectly (eph 5:15) takes on a whole new meaning in our current environment! I still moan about some of the slip-ups I’ve made. Good post! We all need regular reminders.
So true!
I applaud that young man. I, too, am like him in ways. I do not post or e-mail anything I don’t want the world to see!
True post! A few things happened when I used to be on facebook. I decided to get off before I started unliking too many of my friends and family. Ignorance is bliss.
BTW cleaning the bathroom is very appealing.
Being on facebook is a bit like driving. You might be careful, but not everyone else is. :)
So true…we all seem to air our dirty laundry at times! Refreshing to know that young man is living a life of accountability like we all should with God.
Great post. The Bible says “Be holy as I am holy”. And, it made me want to clean the house for my wife!
hahaha! I love it!
our children are young (8,6,2) and we are already starting to have these conversations ~ not in regard to social media ~ but the fact that once said words cannot be taken back. you can apologize but they can be played over and over in that person’s head forever! everything intended for good can also be used to tear down.
i actually like the fact that you think your husband is sexy and let him know it!
I consider the social media stuff to be a ministry, so I try to only post those things that would be glorifying to God. It has kept me out of trouble thus far!!
“I’m not suggesting that you create a false image of yourself; I’m encouraging you to be the person you want to project.”
This is the key. We need to become “little Christ’s”, not just put on a Christian “mask” for the world to see. Thank you for the reminder to live like Him everyday, even when we think nobody is looking!
Thank you for a such a great message delivered with humor.
My opps: Twice at Christmas I texted a gift suggestion to the intended recipient. I guess I was thinking about the person so I sent it to them instead of my husband. I even tried to send a picture of the necklace to my daughter!
This is so true. Years ago I did something similar to your when I sent an email to my husband but accidently hit a list rather than his name :P ~~~ I have seen Christians post things that stunn me and I always think, why? Don’t they realized people are looking for Christians to stumble so they and justify their own choices? We live in the world and are to be a witness to those around us…We are set apart! Thanks for this reminder.
Thank you for your insightful, straight-to-the-heart post today. What a good reminder to “Oh, be careful little tongue what you say” as well as “Oh, be careful little fingers what you type!”
Some great points. I’ve actually started hiding the whiners on FB :) It just gets so old to read so I try to make sure my posts are positive and upbeat. I’m so glad I don’t chat! I didn’t even know FB had that glitch. We do need to be careful what we say all the time.
Blessings,
Mel
Please feel free to stop by: Trailing After God
Yeah, I don’t use the chat either. (Mostly because I don’t have time for it.) But it’s good to remember that even the things we think are hidden often aren’t.
First I have to say I LOVE the picture for this post! Hilarious!
And the words themselves are SO wise!
“I’m not suggesting that you create a false image of yourself; I’m encouraging you to be the person you want to project.”
This is a battle for me, as I am struggling with depression and anxiety. I don’t want to come across as a whiner online, but I also don’t want to put on my smiley happy face and hide either. I know where I want to be, by the grace of God, but I am not there yet.
Bernice
Be authentic, be engaging, and be ready for change
Great words! I LOVE that picture, hysterical!
Great ideas – love what the young man did to commit to accountability! My mother always suggested that we never write (in a paper note, like at school or church) what we wouldn’t want the world to read. Truer today than EVER. Thank you so much for the encouragement to BE what we want the world to see, not fake it.
Great post!
What you put on the internet can never be taken back!
I kind of like the accountability too… it makes you think totally about what you are saying and doing. Although, my tweet-fest extravaganzas during the Bachelor may be a bit more snarky than my usual tweets :)
lol Perfectly understandable. :)
This comment is going to sound super-UN-spiritual compared to everyone else’s, but have to ask…what on earth is that photograph? lol It is appropriate – but one funny-looking pic.
Isn’t it funny! I found it online (public domain) and couldn’t resist using it.
This post rocks. Love it.
Maybe if I talked sexy to my husband he’d clean the bathroom… ;)
Hmmm … This sounds like another blog post. :)
Great post!
My whole day seems to be about being the ‘real’ me! Yay for the reminder!! I just walked in from my Beth Moore ~Daniel~ Bible Study. This is what we are all about in there right now!! Truer words could not have been spoken to my heart today! Thanks for sharing!
Don’t you just love how God communicates loud and clear sometimes? Love it!
Excellent article! I have just begun tweeting more for just this reason. I often felt I wanted to hide who I really am, with no real cause to feel that way. Tweeting more has been my first step into really embracing who I am.
Your authenticity is one of the most beautiful things about you, Heather. Love the way you share yourself with the world, and especially us. Larry is a lucky man–tell him to clean the bathroom again! :)
Love these thoughts. It’s so easy to forget that the whole world (relatively speaking) is watching what’s going on when I tweet or post something on fb. It often seems so very private – just me and my friend or my husband sharing a few words in cyberspace. But the truth is, no matter what we’re doing, we’re always seen, aren’t we? This is a great reminder for me.
I have been struggling with being confident to say (and post on facebook) the things that I feel led to say. I worry about not being good enough, or being too much, or of what someone will think about me. And yet, recently I’ve felt led to speak out and be freely me while on facebook…and on my blog, which is the scariest of scary places!…and use the gifts I’ve been given to *encourage* others. What I say isn’t any different…but it’s a constant reminder of the positive, of the joy, of the choices we can make differently. It’s a powerful place to know we’re seen so widely…and yet such a grand opportunity!
Amy, I struggle with being confident in expressing myself, too. Just yesterday I wrote a blog post that made my heart pound to publish. But I was reminded by my hubby that I just wrote Truth…and when we’re speaking Truth, there’s nothing to be ashamed of. :)
Excellent post! reminds me of that illustration of the feather pillow breaking open in the wind… you can never get back all the feathers… even when we delete what we should not have said… someone saw it…
Great blog! And what a mature college student! I wish more people would take that into consideration. We need accountability in life and online. Oh…and I’ve done that mis-sent text/email before. Very easy to do.
I think the accountability is great! (I just hate to barrage my friends with my Facebook games addiction :-))
I must agree. . .cleaning the bathroom, cleaning ANYTHING is sexy.
a good post to ponder on today … thank you!
oh that tweet is something I would do! Thanks for sharing, what a great reminder that “out of the heart the mouth speaks!”
Really enjoyed this post. Think if everyone had the guts your friend Zach does? What a great example. I think I am going to go add my pastor as a Facebook friend…
Brilliant, wise words!
like… like… LIKE! Good post!
I love this!
I keep hearing all this advice about watching what you post online because it could affect your future career opportunities etc.
And I’m thinking, then why are you doing those kinds of things anyway?
Maybe that’s just me though.
This one is so funny and soooo true! Thanks for the reminder! We really should be careful with what we are posting on our social network accounts because little do we know, the world is seeing us and we are already influencing others with what we say. ;) Thanks so much for the reminder to “shine His light”!
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