Why Your Son Doesn’t Need Instagram

I just deleted my Instagram account.  And now I’m writing this otherwise unplanned blog post about why I did it.  Yes, this is supposed to be restricted to five minute clips about how to study your Bible, but consider this a secondary introduction to myself, the author.

With so many social media venues available, deleting Instagram is really not a loss.  But with only one soul, deleting Instagram can be a huge gain for any man.  Here is why I deleted my account at 3:44 on Saturday afternoon.

Over the last 2 months, I have periodically been getting friend requests on Instagram from (I’m assuming) fake profile users.  All the profiles were women, and all the profile pictures were of a bare woman’s chest.  Instagram didn’t used to have this problem, but apparently they do now.  With that being the case, I deleted my account.  But again, why?  I know several guys I went to college with who are scratching their heads.  The answer is found in Matthew 5:27-30.  In that portion of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus states that looking at a woman and lusting after her is now considered adultery.  Secondarily, he says, “If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell,” (v. 29).  Cut the source of the sin out of your life in other words.  Yes, He did say you can go to hell otherwise.  So…that’s why I deleted my Instagram, and that’s why you need to make sure your son doesn’t have Instagram either.

Don’t be fooled parents, if your son is anywhere around 11 or 12 years old, I guarantee you he has been exposed to pornography.  I was shown pornography for the first time when I was 9, and from psychologists I have read, this is not uncommon by any means.  Did I have Instagram when I was 9?  No.  But is it a good thing I didn’t have another resource to equip the lust of my young, fleshly mind?  Yes.

This is not something we should be ashamed to talk about.  In fact, sexual immorality, pornography, filthy or subtly sensual entertainment, and the immodesty with which we naively dress our bodies at times is something that must be discussed to avoid feeding the fleshly desires of young men…and young women.

No, I’m not a young woman, but this population is also prey to the arena of sexual entertainment.  I was riding in the car with two young girls raised in the church several years ago.  The youngest girl, being about 14 at the time had an i-Pad in her hand.  She was the epitome of innocence.  We were joking about our favorite movies.  Amidst the joking, it was revealed that her favorite movie was Magic Mike.  I’m sure her unsuspecting parents had no idea what she was watching on her tablet with free and eternal Wi-Fi services.  Many other young women have answered me honestly when asked if they deal with lust.  The consensus is unanimous so far.  And why not with everyone taking off their clothes to bathe in the sun come June (my least favorite time of year for this very reason)?  In the winter, it’s not taking the clothes off that is the problem, it’s putting them on so tight as to test the warranty of the supplier’s in-seam.

Let us not cover up the issue.  Don’t downplay the sources that feed lust as if they don’t or won’t affect your angel boy or girl.   And just because you have the temptation under control at the moment, don’t be so nonchalant as to think you cannot regress, thus, keeping less obvious sources of lustful temptation at arm’s length (1 Cor. 10:12).

Here are some resources for you, to help your children avoid the pitfall of sexual addiction.  1) There are downloadable programs for your computer software like Safe Eyes (⇐click the link) and others that notify you when dirty content is accessed by the computer system user.  2) There is a good book on the issue called Every Young Man’s Battle.  (⇐click the link)  I wrote somewhat of a review about this book several years ago while in college.  The author also has separate books written to young women, married women, and married men.  3) Contact me, and ask for further resources, information, or Bible answers on this issue.