What you listen to, who you hang out with, what you read, what you watch, permeate into your soul. Have you ever heard the phrase, the appetite that you feed wins? Let’s say you have two monsters. You feed one but not the other. Then a short time later, you put them together to fight. Which one is going to win the fight? The skinny one or the one you spent every day feeding?
Proverbs 4:23 says: Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.
Corinthians 15:33 says: Do not be misled, bad company corrupts good character.
Are you sad? Depressed and disheartened? Angry and confused? What are you reading, listening to and ingesting?
Is reading the news making you sad? Are you doom scrolling the news, videos about your self image, or looking at people who are more attractive than you all day long?
The world today, in comparison with any other time in human history, has the most distractions available to each human being. There is social media, which vies for your attention 24/7; there are books, games, TV shows, speakers, comedians, comics… you name it and it exits.
What are you feeding your soul?
Philippians 4:8 says rejoice in the Lord always. Brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything in excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things… and the God of peace will be with you.
I’m not saying that once you start thinking happy thoughts that your life will magically be great! I’m saying that you are what you eat. And if you’re taking in bad things, that’s going to be your output.
You know that phrase, you reap what you sow? Galatians 6:7-8 says, Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.
And, you cannot serve two masters for either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money (Matthew 6:24). You cannot do things of the world and please God at the same time. The appetite you feed will be one that wins.
Remember this scene in the movie Tomorrowland? Before this scene, the main character realizes that it’s everyone’s negative thoughts that are causing the destruction of the world. It’s not some random catastrophe, it’s everyone’s mentality of self destruction. But life doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom.
Jesus died on the Cross so that we could have eternal life (John 3:16). And that life doesn’t guarantee that all will be hunky dory and that your life will be amazing going forward. But it does guarantee that the God who created the heavens and the earth will be with you, every step of the way, no matter what. Because God is an unchanging God, He is the same God now as He was when He created the world. He is the same God to us as He was to Abraham and Moses. He does not change like shifting shadows (James 1:17). And if God is for us, who can be against (Romans 8:31)?