We take communion as a reminder of Jesus’ body that was broken for us and his blood that poured out for us on the cross. We eat bread and drink wine to remember what Jesus did for us, and it’s beautiful. But what’s our calling now as believers? It is simply to glorify God and spread the good news to others so they can experience the same grace we have.

So what is we are called to be broken bread and poured out wine for God now? For others. But how do we become broken bread or wine without first being broken or squeezed. I have prayed prayers asking for something like that many times: “God do whatever it takes to break me down and ripen and use me for your glory, for your kingdom.” I was convicted this morning though, of the part where I pray “whatever it takes.” Because I realized that I don’t really mean that. I am willing to let God break me down and sanctify me as long as he used the circumstances that I think would be best. Or he uses the people in my life that I think would benefit me most.

Oswald Chambers says, “Yet God can never make us into wine if we object to the fingers He chooses to crush us.” Dang. I may not like the circumstances that God uses to break me and crush me for something better, but Jesus didn’t either.

Matthew 26:39 says, “And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”” But because Jesus was obedient to his Father and for the joy that was set before him, Jesus endured the cross and was broken and poured out for us. (Hebrews 12:2)

So maybe we don’t like the circumstances God is using to break us down or sanctify us, but if this is what will ultimately lead me to greater joy and His glory then I must endure it no matter how painful the process is. We also don’t get to choose the timeline that it takes place on. If you squeeze a grape before it ripens, then the wine will taste bitter. It is the same for us. Sometimes I get tired of how long God takes to work on a sin issue in my life, but who am I to decide when I’m ripe? God sees the bigger picture, and I must choose to trust in his plan and his timing.

I hate social media. Don’t get me wrong; there are some good things about it. As a Public Relations student, I see the benefit of it for brands and events and other advertising endeavors. But for the most part, I hate it. I hate the hold that it seems to have over me. There are so many days that I want to just quit it, but then I realize that I will miss out on what’s happening in the world and in people’s lives around me. Social media helps me keep up with family and friends who I don’t see often, or even friends who I do see often. I feel like I have to be on social media to simply keep up with everyone since it’s a primary form of communication.

But social media is shallow. And for someone who craves deep friendships and knowing people to their core, it’s a nightmare sometimes. You only show the good, clean sides of yourself on social media. It’s how you prove your worth to others. Social media says “If there haven’t been any pictures added of me on facebook in the past month, then I must not be doing much with my life.” The saying “Pics or it didn’t happen” is such a false reality in this day and age. Why can’t we go to a cool place and appreciate it for what it is and for whom we get to experience it with without taking a picture to filter it and post it on Instagram to show how adventurous we are?

Social media fosters competition. It allows us to compete to see who can has the coolest life. It forces us to keep up with others. For example, if you didn’t post a picture of yourself at a cool music festival like everyone else did, how will people know that you also went and had a really awesome time?

Approval has always been something people strive for. But now social media can put a quantitative measurement on that approval. Social media doesn’t give you a say in how your life is measured; it just tells you your worth. Our lives are measured in pictures, statuses, clever captions, likes, comments, followers, views, favorites, and retweets. It tells you what people think of you, how funny you are, how witty you are, how cute you are, how popular you are, and how great your life is in the eyes of other people.

But you know what social media can’t measure? How great the coffee that you posted on instagram actually tasted. It can’t measure how fruitful that conversation was with the person you were sitting across from when you took that picture. Social media can’t measure how amazing 75-degree weather and clear blue skies feels on your skin. It can’t measure how much the music affected your soul at that concert where you took a picture and spent 20 minutes trying to think of the wittiest caption to achieve the most amount of likes.

I’m not saying posting those things are bad, but I am afraid that we spend so much time evaluating ourselves based on what a number of likes on a picture says about us that we miss out on those special moments that caused us to post pictures in the first place. We forget what really matters in life; what really gives our life meaning.

It doesn’t show the genuine, deep conversations you have in a long car ride with a friend, the first kiss that makes your heart leap, the adrenaline you feel cliff jumping, the excitement you feel when your favorite college team wins a national championship, and it doesn’t show the uncontrollable laughter you experience with your friends at 4am when you have been studying all night and finally hit delirium. Social media doesn’t do justice to that sunrise no matter how many filters you add to it. But those are the moments we remember, right? We reminisce on those things, not how many people liked the picture.

Social media doesn’t show the tears, the heartache, the pain, the hurt feelings, the sin, and the messiness in life. It doesn’t show you holding your friend as she cries in your arms after she has had her heart broken by the boy she loved. It doesn’t show the pain you feel after losing a loved one to suicide or cancer. It doesn’t show the regret you have after letting your selfishness and sin hurt someone you care about or the sweet grace and forgiveness they offer you in return.

That’s reality. And social media can’t measure that. It can only offer glances through a filtered lens into a false, ideal world that we want others to see about us. But it’s not reality. And I’m not interested knowing your “perfect version of yourself” that you want people to see. I want to know you for who you are. I want to know the good, the bad, and the ugly. Because I want you to know that about me too. I want to know that I can be accepted for who I really am, and I want to love you even though I know the ugliness in your life. That’s freedom. That’s living. Everyone has their own reality with their own victories, hardships, and ordinary things. We should be proud and thankful for every aspect of our lives. Because it’s our own unique reality that shapes and defines us.

Most importantly, social media can’t measure how much Christ loves you and me. It can’t measure the worth you and I have in Jesus Christ. Social media can’t measure the amount of agony Christ went through to die on the cross for our sins and to save us into life with him. He died for our freedom so that we wouldn’t be bound to the things of this world that promise us joy but never fulfill. He set us free so that we wouldn’t have to try to find our value in social media. If you’re in Christ, you’ve been set free, so live in that freedom.