I’m a fan of the occasional Facebook game. Now hold on…….I’m not talking about Candy Crush, or Candy Crush Saga, or Candy Crush Soda, or even Candy Crush Soda Saga. (I kid you not, these are real things. Sigh.) I’m talking about those other types of games. Like, “What Kind of Disney Princess Are You?”. After all, if you can’t find deep life meaning from questions like…”What’s Your Favorite Talking Animal?”….then we can’t be friends. Also, I may or may not be the girl that keeps playing the Facebook game until I (I mean she) gets the desired answer. Who wants to be Mulan, when you can be Belle? #dontjudgeme
So, this week I was really excited when I saw a new game on Facebook. You’ve probably seen it too. It’s called, “What Are Your Most Used Words On Facebook?”. The cool thing about this game is that you don’t need to do anything except click a button. (And give Facebook permission to access every part of your being….but that’s another topic for another day.) Literally, the game analyzes your Facebook posts, and then displays a super cute word picture with all of your favorite words featured. The word you use most is the focus word, and then all the other words surround it.
The interesting thing is that as I was seeing my friends begin to display their results, I was seeing some awesome focus words, which isn’t that surprising because I have awesome friends. Words like Love. Believe. Today. Others. Great. Happy. God.
My guess was that my words would be just like theirs. I mean, I try to be pretty positive. I care about people. I’m all about my beliefs. I try to inspire people to be better. I suppose you could say I’m changing the world one Facebook status at a time. Or not.
I anticipate big things.
I play the game.
I see my words.
I play the game again, just to be sure. Clearly my focus word is wrong.
I play one last time. Same word.
At this point, I’m too embarrassed to share my word picture.
Because it looks like this:
You see my big three words?
Me. Love. I’m.
Sigh. This silly Facebook game just showed me a pretty harsh reality.
I love me.
And that bothers me. I mean, I’m all about having a positive self esteem and embracing who I am. But I’m thinking I have some things to sort through. Because the last thing I want is to live a life that’s all about me. (Contrary to popular belief.)
As a Christ follower, I want my life to model His. He loved others above Himself. He humbled Himself. He washed His disciples feet. Jesus modeled humility, servanthood, and compassion.
That’s what I want to do too.
But according to Facebook, I’m not that great at it.
Now, I get it. It’s a Facebook quiz. It’s not a reflection of my character. It is, however, a great reminder for me, and maybe for you too, that this life is not about us. It’s not about what we want, and it’s not about what we get, what we do, or what accolades we earn.
The apostle Paul, said it well….”If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if His love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.” (Philippians 2: 1-3 / The Message)
Winston Churchill said, “You make a living by what you get, you make a life by what you give.”
I’m going to do better.
Want to join me?
(Want to try out the Facebook Most Used Words game for yourself? You can try it here.)
Today’s guest author is Julie Salva. Find her on her website, www.juliesalva.com, or join her delightful Facebook group Creating for Christ.

Julie Salva
Have you learned anything about yourself from taking a Facebook quiz? Comment below and tell us about it.
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