The You Only Need One Like Story

Social media plays a significant role in the world today.  Many people post regularly to one, if not several, social media platforms.  Many of us invest a significant amount of time posting stories and thoughts.  The natural hope is that every post will be liked, positively commented on and shared.  We post, and then we stalk our social media accounts to see how many likes we are generating.  For many people, likes on social media have become comparable to a new drug.  We get a “high” each time we get a lot of likes.  Pressure builds within us to get even more likes in our next posts.  When we get few likes, that causes anxiety, depression, even feelings of failure.  The self-esteem of so many is becoming tied to the amount of likes they get on social media posts. 

Lost in the middle of all of this is God.  Each of us is created in His image and likeness.  Thus, before anyone tells us how much value we have, and regardless of whether or not someone tells us we have value, we actually each have infinite value because God created us in His image and likeness.  The goal of the Christian life is to enter into the Kingdom of God.  Between this life and eternal life is an accounting at the awesome judgment seat of God.  At that point, all the likes in the world won’t matter if God doesn’t give a “like” to our lives.  In the rush to get as many likes as possible, it is important to remember that in the end “You Only Need One like,” and that’s the one that comes from God.

“You Only Need One Like” is a message that needs to be shouted from the rooftops.  There is so much pressure in life for people of all ages that the burden of getting likes on social media just adds extra stress.  It is hoped that this message will help bring things back into some sense of balance between something that is fun (social media) but should not be life altering, and something that is meaningful (faith) that gives life purpose.

“You Only Need One Like” was born out of a sermon given by Fr. Stavros Akrotirianakis, a Greek Orthodox priest, in the summer of 2023.  Ten percent of all profits from “You Only Need One Like” will be donated to charitable causes.