Today I was driving down the road listening to the radio, and a fabulous song came on. I turned up my jam and said to the kids, “this is a good one!” Then I started to dance around in the seat a bit for good measure as we pulled up to a stop sign. Before I knew it tears were coming to my eyes and the significance of the lyrics were setting my soul on fire with a burning joy for God’s truth. I was seriously digging my Contemporary Christian station, and it didn’t get paste me that it might not be the most popular thing on the radio nowadays.
Laugh all you want at thoughts of me dancing in my mom wagon to Jesus music, but I just know it makes me feel good. And I’m not ashamed of that. My dancing? Maybe so. But certainly not my choice of music.
It wasn’t always that way. I’ve always loved music, all kinds, and any of my patients will tell you I sing anything from Gershwin to Patsy Cline, or Jewel to Journey. But what I tend to feed myself with has changed over the years. When given the choice to pick a station I’ll go to Christian radio ten times out of ten. Why? Cause it makes me feel good. You are what you eat, and I’ve discovered feeding myself spiritually changes the whole outlook of my day.
But it doesn’t stop at music. I’ve changed the type of books I read. I really, really didn’t want to do that. I’ve always been a Stephen King super freak, but the last time I tried to read one of his books it made me feel sick to my stomach. Within the first chapter he described a psycho being sexually aroused after running over a baby, and I realized I couldn’t put that kind of stuff in my head anymore. If you like Stephen I totally get it. He’s brilliant and a great story teller. I just came to a place personally where I couldn’t put those images in my mind.
It’s like pornography, and I use that term loosely. You can feed stray thoughts that aren’t good for your marriage with some of the R rated flicks on Cinemax, or even popular movies about S&M. It doesn’t have to be labeled hardcore pornography to cause you to desire someone other than your spouse, or to make you compare your spouse to the person on the screen.
There’s so many movies, in fact, that contain ideals that are polar opposite of what God desires for our life, and even some of the more popular kid’s shows on TV today are exactly opposite of what I want my kids to believe. If they watched television without limits they might assume ghosts taking over your body was perfectly normal, or that disrespecting your elders was the way to be.
Many books we read, shows we watch, or even music we listen to has subliminal messages that can negatively affect us. But I also believe they contain spiritual ties that affect our own spirit in ways we might not even realize.
Have you ever noticed that some music makes you feel depressed, angry, or complacent after listening to it? There’s a reason for that, you know.
I believe some of the things we let into our home, those things with which we feed our minds, open doors to the spiritual realm that are better left closed. Don’t you find it peculiar that our down-falling society coexists with Hollywood busting out movies about demonic possession? Have you ever wondered if watching films about evil spirits taking over people’s souls is something that might not be the best thing to feed into your mind? Think about it.
What do you think this is doing to you deep inside?
And just as you must be mindful of the entertainment with which you surround yourself, I think so too must you pay attention to the company you keep. Do you surround yourself with people who feed your soul or people who drain it? Are your friends the type who build you up, or drag you down? Better yet, what kind of friend are you?
What kind of parent are you? Do you lift up your children with your words? Do you protect them from evil influence.
As the leader of your home, do you make decisions that benefit the family, or ones that open you all to demonic influence?
I’m not making this stuff up. There’s a whole world of influence beyond what our eyes can see, and how we decide to feed our families and ourselves determines if this negative influence can seep into your home. You are what you eat.
I would encourage you to sit down in prayer with the Lord. Ask Him to reveal the things that maybe you should change. Ask Him to show you the influences in your life that may be feeding you the wrong things. Then clear those things out.
You want to listen to music that inspires you, not music that provokes violence. You want to read and watch about subjects that can make you a better person, that can cultivate your relationships with others; not cause you to have nightmares.
You need to surround yourself with people who feed you in a positive way, not those who drain you.
So get moving today on eating right. After all your health depends on it.
Finney Pandicheril says
??
Sandy Winter says
Your post fits in with Andy Stanley’s Bible study we’re doing at church called, TWISTED! Excellent advice!
brieann.rn@gmail.com says
Thank you!