In the last few weeks, we have lost great leaders in the church. Men who led with their hearts and helped us in our own faith for many years. The kerfuffle online between churches and their members is not something we want to see or read. 

I have not come across a single post by a friend about this and only read it on the paper. It goes to show that we are judged by the company we keep. When one posts in disagreement, another will echo it and then the debate begins. I am not a fan of online fights, unnamed, faceless pages, sitting behind a keyboard, shooting arrows from the safety of their own room, not knowing the damage it will do to another human being. To what end? So, you can have one over on the other person? To show your intelligence or lack thereof? What is the aim of all this fighting and arguing? What are we hoping to achieve with paragraphs of nonsense?

Be careful of what you post online, nothing is permanently deleted. The advancement in technology will allow authorities and cyber security experts to get the necessary warrants and orders to retrieve those under the law should you threaten or wish harm on other individuals. Think of the information you post online as leaving bread crumbs for a rat to find. That one rat will follow those breadcrumbs until the source is found. Let’s be cautious of that. Also, when you post silly things, it’s not just your neighbour and friends that see those. The post will reach internationally and don’t forget the power of screenshots and private messages.

Viber and WhatsApp are used a lot to cheat, lie, commit fraud, and crimes of a serious nature because people think that they are safe with what they share in ‘encrypted’ messages. That is just a veil that can be yanked away under the law. Let us be mindful of the effects of all these disagreements and public information. Whatever we do behind closed doors will be revealed one day and when that day comes, you will not have your 80,000 virtual TikTok followers in the courtroom with you. You will stand by yourself in front of the judge and give an account of what you did.

Much like when we get to the end of this life. We won’t be standing in front of God with our spouse, lover, child, or parent. You will stand by yourself to give an account of what you did on Earth. There is nothing you can take with you from this world of materialism. It will just be you and God. How are we going to stand that day? Are we going to be proud of who we are and how we lived our lives? Did we live according to his purpose? Did we fulfil his plans for our lives? Did we truly love others like ourselves and keep his commandments?

While we enjoy another peaceful Sunday in Samoa. A close friend sent me a message in the last few weeks, “Enid, show your humanity and humility in whatever you are facing. If you do this, you will come out victorious”. He was right. We are not immune to pain and resentment when things are hard. The expected response is to seek revenge and annihilate your enemy, leaving them with nothing but that is not what we are commanded to do as Christians. We are commanded to forgive others otherwise we won’t be forgiven in return and we are commanded to leave vengeance to God. He is capable and he is in control. Let us stop stirring up nonsense and things that don’t benefit anyone. Let’s build each other up and encourage one another. Manuia le Sapati.