English-born pop star Raye says it’s the Bible — not Instagram — that guides her in life.
“I look for answers in a Bible app, not cruising Instagram,” she said during a recent interview with The Times, a British newspaper.
The “WHERE IS MY HUSBAND?” singer-songwriter told the outlet she stays “offline as much as she can,” adding that staying away from social media has significantly improved her mental health — an unsurprising outcome given the data showing chronic Instagram use is intrinsically tied to higher levels of depression, anxiety, and stress.
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A Pew Research Center survey from 2024 found close to half of teenagers (48%) believed social media sites had a mostly negative impact on their peers — a stark increase from the 32% who said the same in 2022.
The temptation to compare one’s life to others online is a huge driver of insecurity when it comes to social media usage, and Scripture offers myriad warnings against comparison.
For example, in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, the Apostle Paul wrote,
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever (NLT)!
And in Philippians 2:2-4, he wrote, “Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose. Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too” (NLT).
Raye said being off social media — and away from the constant commentary on her — has helped her thought life.
“I think since I’ve come offline, it’s been much better; ignorance is bliss,” she said. “If someone said I look awful in a dress, it’d make me sad. If I don’t know someone said I look awful in a dress … so I’m really big on being offline.”
The pop singer, who was raised in a Christian home, has credited her faith with keeping her alive.
She told the BBC, “There’s a world in which, if I didn’t find faith again, I might not even be here. There’s a lot of demons trying to claw at you and drag you to somewhere you don’t belong, so I’m really grateful I have this faith. It’s honestly pulled me out of a really dark place.”
Raye has a reference to Psalm 91 tattooed on her arm.
She described the Old Testament passage as “a protection prayer,” telling Louis Theroux, “Whenever you’re scared or feel unsafe, any negative energy comes to you or whatever, I’ll pray this prayer. It’s an important one for me.”
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