Does this analogy sound familiar? It should. Because what is true for our physical bodies is also true for our spiritual body… and before you ask, yes we do have a spiritual body that’s being renewed. What we don’t seem to appreciate is that we do feed our spiritual body daily but we don’t always give sufficient thought to what we feed it. What’s in front of your eyes? What is it you listen to? All that contributes to how you feed your spirit.
In March, 2011, when I wrote about spiritual nourishment, some of the questions I asked are the same ones now. What are you feeding your spirit, your soul? Is it garbage in thus creating garbage out or are you feeding ‘good things’ in? Example: there are some people who are ‘religious’ about taking vitamins and minerals to keep their bodies strong and hopefully free of disease. My question is how do we do the same with our souls? It never is a question of ‘if’ because whatever we take in impacts in some fashion. Is our ‘food’ TV? newspapers? What is our source?
Just like you can starve your body without nutritious foods, you can starve your soul in the same way. If you don’t take in nourishment, your soul will weaken. What kind of nourishment do you need? Without a steady diet of reading the Bible I don’t think other ‘foods’ will be utilized to their utmost (just like there are certain vitamins that should be taken together to enhance both). Reading the Bible is critical to maintain a strong and healthy soul and is the foundation.
Those you associate with are also important to the nourishment of your soul. There is a study that shows that you tend to take on the same philosophies as those you associate with. What is it that those you associate with believe in? Scripture admonishes us to not forsake the gathering together. Remember steel sharpens steel – you are not to leave your mind on the doorstep when you are talking with others. Being imperfect we won’t always agree but the discussions cause us to rethink, examine, and reaffirm what it is we do believe. Without the company of other Christians this is limited.
You do provide for your soul, the question is… is there any nourishment? If all you do is to take in all the violence that’s now displayed on TV then minimally it will affect your view of the world. It also tends to validate that violence is the way to make certain your view is maintained. There’s little nourishment to this approach. Nourishment includes associating with fellow believers, prayer, reading and studying scripture. It may seem ‘unexciting’ in the world we live but it is also the source of our health. Garbage in, garbage out does exist. What do you want to feed your soul? You do have options.
