Soul Food

It’s important that we watch what we feed our spirits. When I was younger my dad would always say, “watch what you eat”. A few days ago I bought this bracelet because it was cute, and it had a bible verse on it (Proverbs 4:23), which made it even cuter :). I didn't really understand it at the time, but it just hit me that in buying that bracelet God was trying to reveal something to me. Lately, I’ve been watching what I feed my spirit. I said months ago I’d stop listening to certain music and watching certain shows that weren’t beneficial for my spiritual growth, but it wasn’t until I was faced with trials that I began to see the benefits of committing to such a journey. When the troubles came, I sought peace and truth in almost everything I watched and listened to. God also began to reveal to me the importance of making a healthy “soul diet” a lifestyle instead of a temporary fix. Funny thing is, 2-3 months ago He gave me the same advice regarding my actual food diet. Much like an actual food diet, once you go back to your old habits, you also begin to start looking like your old self. It’s the same when it comes to a “soul diet”. If you’re trying to avoid lustful thoughts, so you listen to only gospel music for a month to drown out the thoughts, then go back to listening to lustful music, what do you think is going to happen with those thoughts you managed to wash out? You guessed it, they’re coming back with a vengeance, trust me I know. What God placed on my heart is that we shouldn’t wait for troubles to arise or our old sinful ways to return in order to begin watching what we feed our spirits, it should become a lifestyle. When you watch what you eat (spiritually) daily, when trouble comes you won’t have to desperately seek truth in order to feel peace in the storm, it’ll already be within you, and anything else will be additional; added onto what you already have. And in turn, your old ways kind of begin to just fade away. I’m learning that my thought patterns before I began watching what I eat (spiritually) came from the people I listened to and what watched daily. I believe that when God delivers you, and you get a taste of what it feels like to be free, it’s easier for you to recognize the lies when they’re in the midst.

For instance:

I battled with depression for years, but once I started living right, God healed me of that. In knowing that I’m healed, and that’s not who I am anymore, I’m now able to recognize that if I begin to feel that way for any reason, it’s not normal, and I should seek God. See, before it was normal for me to be depressed, so I didn’t realize I needed to seek God because I believed the lie, which was that I’d always be that way, because that’s just who I am. Today, I’m able to pinpoint the culprit. Most times, it’s the music I keep on repeating, other times, it’s the people I’m around. 

When our physical health is in jeopardy many of us are willing to change our diets without a second thought because well, who wants to die an untimely death due to their own negligence? So, why not do the same for the sake of your spiritual health?

Proverbs 4:23:

“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it”