“You Are What You Eat”

“You Are What You Eat”

Sister Miki Terayama - 7 March 2021

Weekend Devotion: "You Are What You Eat"

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I am sure we all know this phrase, “You are what you eat”. Meaning, if you eat healthily, you are less likely to get sick and be stronger. But if you are eating lots of junk food in your daily diet, then you are bound to see some bad effects on your body and even mentally.
Now, this is very much the same with what we feed our spirit. We, humans, grow on things and when it becomes a habit or the frequency of our exposure is high for some things, we internalise it into our living rhythms, our way of thinking and how we feel strongly or indifferent about an issue.

I was watching this show about a group of mothers who are very concerned and competitive about their child’s achievements and results in this prestigious music school. Because of that, they consciously, or maybe unconsciously, indoctrinate a lot of their ideas into their children’s mind. “You have to get this grades”, “you have to win this award”, “you have to get into the top place”, “you must be better than this person”. If not, you are just not good enough and becomes a disappointment to people around you. They study all the time and is surrounded by the toxic relationships that continues to internalise these values into their hearts, making the wrong seem right, justified by the misguided thoughts of each other. In the end, it got into a dire state for one of the kid, and she lost herself mentally. Now this is not something just out of a drama. It is real and happens in our lives as well.


Spiritual Junk Food

In our society, there are many kinds of influences around that try to direct us into some sort of ideology and beliefs. The definition of success, of freedom, of joy, of what it means to be cool. The worse part is that it is so readily available for our viewing and audio pleasure.

The thing about spiritual junk food, just like actual junk food, is that it taste good and satisfy some sort of craving for that moment. Like a late night snack or stress eating. It makes us feel good… for a bit. But we do not see is how it gets into us and works undercurrent to accumulate some bad effects that will gradually surface. Like I talked about Revenge Bedtime Procrastination last message, it feels good that I get my entertainment fix from my phone at night, but over the next few days, I get easily exhausted, affecting my mood and I am also elevating my own desire to use the phone more. It builds on us and flows into the little areas of our lives. So let us take a moment to do some “diet tracking” for our spirit. Think about what we are exposing ourselves to a lot these days? What are we feeding our thinking and emotions with? Has it affected us in certain ways, internally or outwardly? We need to be more vigilant about how the world and Satan may be working on us.

Gospel: The Superfood for the Spirit

James 1:21 says, “Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.” Now, to put away the unhealthy habits for snacking on the “worldly food”, we need to replace it with what is truly nutritious and beneficial for us, that is the Word of God- the Gospel. To be honest, it is not easy to switch to a healthy spiritual diet, having grown into a palate that has tasted the very addictive flavours of the world. Therefore, it requires intention and some form of discipline. But prior to that, we have to, as the verse has said, receive meekness and humility for the need of God’s intervention and revelation of how we should lead our lives in the way He best desires for His children. After introspecting the ways that we have been feeding ourselves with the influences of the media and the world’s culture, we have to submit and turn to the gospel for redirection and new perspectives. In fact, if we keep turning to this superfood for the spirit, that is God’s scriptures and stories, and applying it to our own lives, we will surely see some gradual changes and a more assured heart as we follow the will of God, leaving our old ways and habits. This all comes from the grace of the Lord that follows us through. Titus 2:11-12 says, “For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.” You know, I used to have this work style where once I wake and send my kids to school, I want to rush through all my work for the day fast, so that I have the rest of the day free for myself. But sometimes, I cannot finish the work or halfway through I get very distracted. So I end up not finishing my work and when I fetch my kids back in the evening, I often lose my cool or keep thinking about the work I have yet finished. The whole day is just dictated by how well I do my tasks and how people around me react. There was no opportunity given for God to speak to me or for me to guard my heart. But as I started restoring a fixed time in the morning for quiet time and devotion, turning to face the Lord first thing in the morning, instead of my checklist, I am more steady-hearted and had the truth I read at the start of the day to cling onto as I go through my activities. No doubt, I would still get frustrated or lose focus from time to time, but even if I had fall to some weaknesses, the Word I fed my spirit helped me snap back faster and not remain in my own accusations or negative thoughts. So you see, my brethren, when we replace our time and focus with the gospel, all things work for the good for us in the long run.

Also, as there are many variations of healthy food choices, there are also many ways that the gospel can minister to us. Sometimes, we get very put off by the idea of having to listen to a sermon everyday, or read pages and pages of the bible. But our God is a living and vibrant God. Of course, reading the bible and sermons are essentially what we need to have as the basis of growing our faith, but in between, there are light-hearted ways to remind ourselves of the Word. By hymns, by podcast, by articles, by Christian social media accounts or even creating our content to post and share.

So let us not merely crave for short term satisfaction from the world and limit the goodness of the Lord. May we, instead, cleanse our palate and diet daily with the true superfood, that is the nutritious word of the Lord, as we abide by the will of God for us.

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Miki Terayama
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Miki is a full-time ministry staff at The Blessed Run Ministries. She is a sister who shares a natural, God-given affinity with children and youths. She is married to Randy (NET Group Youth Leader) and has two little ones of her own, Liora and Jude. She is involved in the children, youth and social media ministries.

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