A Decision to Nourish Your Soul

January 9, 2024

Our minds control everything else about us. Our thoughts influence our feelings. And our feelings impact our actions.

What you think matters, because everything starts in the mind. To be a healthy person, you have to control your thought life. If you don’t your thoughts and your feelings will rule you.

First though, let me relieve you of some false guilt: You’re not responsible for every stray thought that passes through your mind. Stray thoughts enter our minds for a variety of reasons, like conversations you hear by accident, things you see, or stuff the enemy puts in your mind.

You’re responsible for how you deal with those stray thoughts. Martin Luther said it like this: “You can’t keep the birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair.”

God will hold you accountable for what you allow to enter your mind.

Many followers of Jesus spend their time watching TV shows and listening to podcasts that have absolutely no moral, emotional, or educational value. People spend hours and hours scrolling content that, even if it’s not “bad,” is kind of like spiritual junk food. It has no nutritional value to their mental health or spiritual health.

You have to make a decision. What are you going to fill your mind with? Junk?

Garbage in, garbage out. What you put into your mind will inevitably bear fruit in your behavior and beliefs.

Proverbs 15:14 says, “A wise person is hungry for knowledge, while the fool feeds on trash” (NLT).

I am not saying you need to smash your TVs and get a flip phone, but, I encourage you to be intentional. Are you going to pick up God’s Word first thing in the morning? Or, your phone? (And, maybe your Bible is on your phone. The Bible App is a great tool, but you get the picture.)

It’s your decision.

Are you hungry for more knowledge of God, or are you content to keep a steady diet of entertainment? You have the power to decide what you feed your mind.