Tool or Vice

Facebook is a great tool to stay in contact with people. Especially when they live far away. It's fun to look at pics. I especially love pics of little kids. From time to time though, I decide to stay away from fb to keep myself in check. It's not that I spend a lot of time on there but I'm checking my heart motives. A few days ago I stayed off the computer, not just fb. It's amazing how many times the thought floated through my head to check this or that on the computer. Not that any of that is bad but I had to ask myself if that was the best use of my time at that moment. I found most of the time I was going there out of habit. Often I was trying to fill a need of wanting to connect with someone old enough to drive. I know many stay-at-home moms feel that way.

It made me realize that some things that are great tools can become vices. A tool is something you use to help you get a job done. A vice is something that has a hold on you from getting things done. Almost anything can be a vice. I realized these last few months that food is also a vice for me from time to time. This is a strange problem for me. I've never had to to ask myself if I'm eating because I'm hungry and if so was I making the best food choices. It's amazing how much of a grip food can have on you.

When Jesus was in the desert being tempted, Satan used the Bible against Him. You normally wouldn't think of the bible as a vice but used incorrectly, as Satan tries to do with us, it can be used as something negative. The bible is definitely NOT bad. I love God's word. Nor is food bad. You can't give up food but you can retrain yourself to think of it correctly. Your attitude and heart motive is the difference between something being used to help you or be used against you.

Now when I go on facebook, or even my computer, I ask myself what's my motive. Am I using this as a tool to help me accomplish something or am I just wasting time that could be better spent doing something else. Asking God what His perspective is can help. God is good. He will show you have to have balance.