I wanted to add a few more tips to my last writing on how to find inner peace in this troubled world. An old adage says “You are what you eat.”[1] That is of course true in the physical world because our bodies are a result of what we eat. If we want to be healthy, we are told we need to eat the right food and avoid the bad. If we ignore the advice from our health advisers we may end up with health problems down the line.
The same is true in the spiritual world. Jesus said, “The words I speak unto you are spirit and they are life.”[2] Proverbs warns that life and death are in the power of the tongue.[3] James reminds us that the tongue “is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.”[4] Since words are real things, spiritual entities or spiritual food for our soul; we are spiritually what we watch, listen to or read. Therefore, we must monitor our viewing and listening habits if we want to be healthy spiritually.
Marshall McLuhan said, “We become what we behold. We shape our tools, and thereafter our tools shape us.”[5] We basically program ourselves with what we decide to take in as input. Then that input becomes us. We watch the News and listen to the different “sides” of the debate and choose which argument we will accept as our own. But many times we do not realize that there may be and probably are other ways of interpreting the data. Other arguments may even be better. But by passively accepting the arguments being fed to us on mainline TV or at school, we are in fact having our opinion formulated or letting ourselves be brainwashed.
Alan Watts has said that if we don’t want to be brainwashed, we should not watch TV.[6] When we do watch TV, we should watch for the underlining message. It may be acceptance of suicide, or euthanasia, or promiscuous or perverted sex, genetic selection, bionic identification or bio-chip implant, foul language, evolution, aliens, homosexuality, political correctness, abortion, same-sex marriage, the New World Order, or the acceptance of violence, sarcasm, foolishness, etc. It may be the idea that anyone who actually believes in conspiracy theories is a kook. Ask God to show you what the hidden agenda of the film or program is? It may be very much against what God’s word teaches. That’s why knowledge of God’s word comes in handy. If we know what God’s word teaches, we can more easily see what is contrary to it. Horace Greeley said,“It is impossible to enslave mentally or socially a Bible-reading people. The principles of the Bible are the groundwork of human freedom.”
If your viewing and listening habits are not uplifting, full of praise and thanksgiving, if they do not help your thoughts to be truthful and honest, if they are not pure and lovely, then you may be letting the enemy’s lies, perversions and discouragement into your life. I met a woman the other day who told me she no longer watches the News as it made her so depressed. She realized the News was having a bad affect on her, so she stopped watching it. Sometimes we taste food and realize immediately that it is “off” and we spit it out. But other times the poison may not be so obvious and may have a slower but just as deadly affect. Like the wrong kinds of fats or white sugar. They don’t kill you the first time you eat them. But a continued diet with a high fat or white sugar content will eventually take its toll.
I structure my viewing, reading and listening very carefully. I want to stay healthy spiritually. I therefore maintain a good spiritual diet. I do watch the News and read the newspaper to keep up with current events. But the News is not my spiritual feeding and usually only a small portion of what I read or view throughout the day. I usually start the day with a word based reading from a Christian website that I can trust or from the Bible itself. I listen to scripture music in the car, or the audio Bible or other inspiration uplifting feeding listening material which I have already prepared and selected. I usually do not listen to the radio unless it is a program that caters to the spiritual input I am looking for.
No wonder you are feeling downcast. You cannot and will not win a passive warfare against our active spiritual enemy for he goes around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may destroy.[7] We need to take up our spiritual weaponry; the shield of faith, the girdle of truth and the helmet of salvation, to name a few.[8] But our one attacking weapon is the Word of God.[9] The Bible says it is more powerful than a two-edged sword and gives us discernment so that we can see and understand and judge properly the spirit and words of others.[10]
Listening and meditating or memorizing God’s word has such a positive uplifting affect. You can even quote it to yourself and use it to chase away your negative self talk or when the enemy is attacking you with doubts and discouragement. We need to be aggressive in our spiritual life. Passive warfare means defeat. Watch the words that are entering into your mind through TV, music or conversation, reading or thinking. Words are real things. They will bless or curse the hearer. They lift up or pull down. Jesus said that we will give account for every idle word in the Day of Judgment.[11] We need to be vigilant watching our thoughts and bringing them into agreement with the word of God.[12] We need to think on things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of good report.[13]
If you are having trouble deciding what to watch, or what to read, ask the Lord or someone in the Lord whose life is bearing good fruit. Jesus said, “By their fruits you will know them.”[14] Don’t be afraid to ask for prayer and help if you need it. There is great power in united prayer together. And if you haven’t yet taken the step to ask Jesus into your life, stop the hesitating. He loves you and wants to be part of you’ll life, if you will just ask Him to come in. He’s not religion or church service, but a Friend who sticks closer than a brother.[15] Try Him, you might find He’s just what you have been looking for all these years.
2. John 6:63
3. Proverbs 18:21
4. James 3:8
7. 1 Peter 5:8
8. Ephesians 6:14-17
9. Ephesians 6:17
10. Hebrews 4:12
11. Matthew 12:36
12. 2 Corinthians 10:5
13. Philippians 4:8
14. Matthew 7:20
15. Proverbs 18:24
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