What does Your Smartphone say about you?

"Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers." Ephesians 4:29

Good morning, dear friends,

So, you have my permission to go ahead and laugh.  

I just got my first Smartphone a little while back in November.

I know this probably makes me technophobe and everything else laughable about us forty-year-olds.  Truth be told, though I never really considered myself afraid of technology, I must admit that I was a little bit lost with cellphones around me.

I guess, like many things in my life, I had to see the reason first before I launched out and tried something new.  After all, I only have a limited number of brain cells, and if I'm going to use them on learning new technology, well, maybe I won't remember that really important tidbit of useless trivia.

Before we go any further, I refuse to open the Apple vs Android debate.  Really, aren't there more important things in life to debate?  Like favorite flavors of ice cream, or which movie adaptation of Pride and Prejudice is better? 

(BBC.  Definitely BBC.)

While owning the latest and greatest smartphone is a status symbol for up-and-comers, today I was thinking not about what kind of Smartphone I have, but literally, what my Smartphone says about me.

Simply put, what does my Smartphone use reveal about me?

I'm still getting used to constant texting.  I still prefer to pick up a phone and call someone, even if it's just a "quick question." Texting is good and all, but emojis are not real faces and cannot give a real interpretation of my love, my desires, or my sarcasm.  One of the best (and worst) features of the Smart phone is autocorrect.

Oh, how we all have a love/hate relationship with autocorrect.

I live in Boves.  Not love or bovine.  Just Boves.  With an S.  Please stop trying to correct it.

However, if I type Boves enough into my phone, it types it automatically for me.  The lazy person in me thinks this is great.  And very revealing.

What words automatically pop up, as soon as I start typing?

More importantly, what do these words say about my thoughts in general?

It can be very intimidating to pick up your phone, and have your written dialogues on display.  After all, our phones, are only as "smart" as the people who use them.  So, if my communication is filled with ugly thoughts, empty thoughts, or wrong thoughts, my phone records them, and make them a part of my "vocabulary" when I send texts.  And the more I use them, the more my phone records and reveals them.

"Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers." Ephesians 4:29

The Bible verse at the top of this blog reminds me that, like my phone, God is keeping a record of the communication that comes out of my mouth.  Are my words...

...corrupt? This word literally means worthless or rotten.  Is my communication with others stale, useless, or worse, decaying and dying?  Or is it...

...to the use of edifying? This term refers to building or confirming another.  Do I use my words to build up, or tear down?

...ministering grace to the hearers?  Am I seeking to stir up problems, or extending God's gracious balm of healing to others?

What does my smartphone say about me?  Hopefully, words that are pleasing and helpful to others.

By the way, according to my Smartphone, I say, "Woo hoo!" a lot.  Hopefully that is an encouraging, gracious form of communication.

So...woo hoo to you today!