• Picture: a nighttime shot of the stars and moon; Caption: I’ll have as many offspring as the stars in the sky? Hmmm consider me intrigued. #nokids (Genesis 15:1-6)
• Picture: baby Isaac; Caption: Isaac arrived yesterday! Mom and baby are doing well. We love you to the moon and back! (Genesis 21:1-7)
• Picture: a ram with its horns tangled in a bush; Caption: Where God guides, He provides. Thankful for His provision of this sacrifice today. (Genesis 22:1-14) 

But of course, quite often in discussions about social media and its impact on our mindsets, emotions and health, we remember that what most people post isn’t a true reflection of real life (myself included). Naturally, we love to share what we’re proud of, while keeping our more shameful, embarrassing and mistake-prone moments to ourselves. There’s no way Abraham would have included lowlights like these on his feed:

• Picture: glamour shot of his wife, Sarah; Caption: Lied to Pharaoh and told him this beauty is my sister. #whateverittakes (Genesis 12:10-20)
• Picture: Hagar holding baby Ishmael; Caption: Sometimes you just have to take things into your own hands, am I right? Making moves. Baby Ishmael is here! (Genesis 16:1-16)
• Picture: another glamour shot of his wife, Sarah, different outfit; Caption: God has been good, but can He really be trusted with everything? Gotta play it safe when it comes to my wife. Comment your thoughts. #takingnochances #liedagain (Genesis 20:1-18)

There are a ton of lessons to learn from social media, obviously! Don’t compare somebody else’s highlight reel to your lowest moments. Comparison is the thief of joy. Don’t spend more time looking at other people’s lives than living your own. We are not called to judge other people–that’s God’s job alone. And the list goes on.

But here’s a truth I’ve settled on for today: God’s love for me never changes. In my highest of highs and my lowest of lows, God loves me the same through it all. When Abraham set out, destination unknown, simply because God told him to, God loved him. And when he slept with his wife’s maid because he didn’t trust God to keep His promise that he and Sarah would have a child? God loved him then, too. He stayed with Abraham, forgave him, and still kept promise after promise He made. To top it off, when the Holy Spirit inspired the writing of the New Testament hundreds of years after Abraham’s life, he was commended for his belief in God (Hebrews 11:1-19) and recognized as righteous through faith (Romans 4). Throughout Abraham’s ups and downs, God’s love for him was unchanging. 

As for you–when you make time to read your Bible five straight mornings in a row before work, God loves you! And when you accidentally explode in anger at your friend when he pushes your buttons one too many times? God loves you then, too. He stays with you, forgives you, and still keeps promise after promise He’s made to you. To top it off, when God calls you home to Heaven one day, His love (paired with your belief in Him as Savior) will welcome you to eternal joy, even though your life was far from perfect. His love for you is unchanging. If that’s not worthy of an Instagram post, I’m not sure what is.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. -Romans 8:38-39

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge–that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. -Ephesians 3:17b-19