



By Kyleigh Dunn
When was the last time we thought of our smartphones as a catalyst for spiritual growth?
Usually, we view our phones as a threat to our spiritual lives. We’ve been told our phones will rob our souls of vitality and drain our affection for the things above.
If we’re not intentional, our phones can deaden our spiritual senses.
But our phones can also be a catalyst to love God more.
Smaller than a Bible, our phones are always with us and can be held in one hand while nursing a baby. Behind the screen, music and books are ready to access when our minds drift to dark places.
Our mobile devices are a valuable on-the-go tool. We can call, text, or email anyone, anytime—from swim lessons to grocery order pickups.
Our phones can aid in spiritual disciplines, connect us to others for fellowship, provide on-the-go encouragement, and possess seeds for sanctification.
Let’s consider how this little glowing object can help us become more like Christ.

4 Ways to Use Our Smartphones for Spiritual Growth
1 – Our phones can aid us in spiritual disciplines.
Bible reading and prayers are more focused when we’re away from our phones. But, in some seasons, pulling out a physical Bible is difficult.
Apps can further paper-and-pen devotional time, such as:
- Open a Scripture memory app before checking social media.
- Scroll a Psalm instead of Facebook or Instagram.
- Listen to the Bible or Christian music while commuting to work.
- Read a book on Kindle to foster love for God.
Apps can be distracting, but they’re also a compact source of access to the Bible, good books, and worship music.
Since our phones are always with us, let’s use our devices to meditate on God’s Word “day and night” (Ps 1:2–3):
- How can we use the apps on our smartphones for spiritual growth and edification?
- Are there any new apps to download or habits to form?

2 – Our phone connects us to others for fellowship.
Our phones can disrupt community when they replace in-person fellowship. Yet, using our mobile devices while apart can sustain and enhance our relationships.
We can stay connected and encouraged when we aren’t with other believers. We can text a friend asking for prayer, or message a word of encouragement to a loved one.
Smartphones may have fragmented society and led to tearing others down, but we can harness their features to build others up.
Consider how to “stir one another up to love and good works” (Heb 10:25), one swipe at a time:
- When we pick up our phones in a spare moment, how can we connect with others through it? Who can we reach out to today?
- How can we communicate during the week to deepen our Sunday fellowship?
- How can we engage with others on social media to foster community?

3 – Our phones contain a wealth of potential encouragement.
We turn to mindless scrolling for relief, but it brings none.
However, mindful scrolling can bear fruit in our lives:
- Interact with what we read on social media—leave a comment, send it to a friend with a note, or pause the scroll to ponder.
- Pay attention to how certain accounts make us feel.
- Don’t be afraid to unfollow or mute—we can always change our minds.
- Pray for news updates we come across.
With so much quality content available, good information becomes overwhelming unless we curate our social media accounts.
Let’s bring peace to our hearts by dwelling on what is true, honorable, and excellent (Phil 4:8):
- What social media accounts lead us to greater worship of God?
- Whose “voice” spurs us on toward love and good deeds?
- How can we curate our feeds so we can thoughtfully digest what we find there?

4 – Our phone use failures can plant seeds for sanctification.
We may regularly pick up our smartphones for spiritual growth and to aid spiritual disciplines, connect to others in fellowship, or seek encouragement.
But, sometimes we don’t. We may succumb to endless scrolling and squander our time.
However, our mobile device missteps can become a catalyst for spiritual growth—if we let them.
Instead of trying to do better by sheer willpower, let’s seek the root problem and ask for God’s help:
- Stop and think about what happened. Why did we start mindlessly scrolling instead of texting a friend?
- Dissect our desires. How did one minute on Facebook turn into 10?
- Repent of any sin involved (Ps 51).
- Rest in the gospel. We aren’t saved by perfect phone use, but by grace through faith (Eph 2:8).
- Pray for the Holy Spirit’s help to resist the pull of the phone when we need to do something else—He’s ready to help us in our weakness (Rm 8:26).
Being aware of how our desires drive our smartphone use helps us use it more intentionally for spiritual growth.
The process of wrestling with our wants can lead to finding our satisfaction in Jesus alone:
- What truth can we preach to ourselves when we feel the pull of screen dependence or addiction?
- What guardrails can we erect to build better mobile device habits?

For God’s Glory and Our Good
Let’s plant ourselves in places—on and off screen—to see and know God more.
Beholding Jesus weakens the pull of idolatry and addiction (2 Cor 3:18) and frees us to use our smartphones for spiritual growth.
Let’s pick up our phones and use them for His glory and our good.
Kyleigh Dunn

Kyleigh Dunn is a pastor’s wife, seminary student, and homeschooling mother to four children. She runs www.thesorrowsofeve.com, providing resources to moms with postpartum depression and other perinatal mood and anxiety disorders and the people that support them. Connect with her on Instagram.
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