A Selfie of the Heart

Last January, students and faculty at Deer Valley High School in Glendale, Arizona, USA, took 1449 self-portraits in one hour, thus winning the title for “Most self-portrait photographs (selfies) taken in 1 hour” in the book of Guinness World Records. For many, however, selfies are not simply a fun competition. Taking and posting selfies on social media sites is a way of life—even an addiction.

Selfie of your heart

Although there are probably many people who occasionally take and post selfies for good reasons—to remember a special moment or share an event with friends back home— many are falling into the "selfie generation" trap. It's a generation where "me" is more important than others— and even more important than Him. 

Could this be part of what the apostle Paul warned us about in 2 Timothy 3:1–5? “There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power” (italics added). 

It all sounds too familiar, doesn’t it? 

When I asked the 22-year-old why she hasn’t gotten caught up in the selfie trend, she answered, “I guess it’s because so many people I know look very different on Facebook or Instagram than they do in real life. 

My friends already know what I really look like—and I don’t want to be a fake to people I haven’t met yet.”

We’re also missing the example set by God when He said, “The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). 

The heart. Our hearts. That’s what matters most. So what do our hearts look like? If it were possible to take a selfie of our hearts and post it on our social media site, what would people see? Selfishness? Bitterness? Judging? Envy? Hate?

There’s a Bible text that describes what a person’s heart looks like when they imitate how Jesus treated people: it will be filled with “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22, 23). That’s quite a contrast from the characteristics described in 2 Timothy! 

Jesus does make a difference. He can “edit” our hearts to be people who are known not for our looks, but for how we treat others.