If the answer is “yes,” then my second question is, do you know how snapchat works? If you are like me, then you have trouble keeping up with all of the apps and technology out there. My wife helps me stand guard over technology and apps used in our homes so that we make as few mistakes as possible. We are a team and try to stay up on what is going on with our children’s devices. You may be like us, just trying to keep your heads above water on all of the technologies that seem so simple to kids! If so, I want to encourage you to double check to see if Snapchat is on your child’s device.

A simple google search will tell you that “One of the principal features of Snapchat is that pictures and messages are usually only available for a short time before they become inaccessible to their recipients.” Basically, whatever is viewed, can only be viewed for a short time and then automatically deletes. Now, I remember what I was like as an unregenerate teenage boy and with no sugar coating included, this would have gotten me into a whole mess of philosophical dilemmas. Many times, as adults, we forget the difficulty that hormones and peer pressure play in the life of a teenager. Now, add to that difficult season of life, a phone with an app that automatically allows them to communicate off the grid and have pictures and messages deleted off the grid without any parent or authority being the wiser. This my friends, is a recipe for a disaster. Pictures and messages sent back and forth between teenagers that delete after viewed???  How is this ok for them? How is this ok for you and me? Please review the apps that your children have on their phone and save them from unwise and foolish mistakes that could impact them for years to come.

Don’t underestimate the power of apps like snapchat. This technology has the power to destroy relationships and pervert minds. Young people need love, truth and accountability. Apps like Snapchat can eliminate accountability during a season of life that your child may need it the most. If your child has the app on their device, my advice is to delete it. Lovingly explain to them the danger that it poses toward their spiritual health. Remember parents, it is your job to bring your children up in the “discipline and instruction of the Lord.” If your children have messed up with Snapchat, remind them that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the only thing that can truly delete their sinful history. He is the only hope for each of us.

“When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.”  Colossians 2:13-15