You are what you...
As a child the most dreaded phrase I could hear was "What are you eating? You know, you are what you eat." My biggest fear is that I would one day look like a pepsi and hershey bar. As genetics would have it I could easily eat like this and not gain a pound, all the way through from elementary through the military. It wasn't until college, post military, that this saying started to truly take form in my life, more importantly in my waistline. Last summer I was diagnosed with non-ischemic cardiomyopathy, a virus had attacked my heart and for the first time I truly began to understand "You are what you eat" and if I didn't change my habits wrong eating would be life ending, sooner rather than later. (Needless to say moving from Missouri to Texas took a toll on these changes but we are back on track as of today!) So in the end the food I eat will play a part in the life that I live here. Guess those folks who told me that as a kid weren't so wrong after all...
As a heart patient I must be very careful about my diet, what I ingest, and as I Christian I must do the same. You see the same principle about food also applies to Christ's disciples. Not in the sense of food but in the sense of everything else we consume in our lives; It applies to the music we listen too, the books that we read, the websites we visit, all areas of the media that drive our lives as they play a role in our faith development. The things we ingest, rather we would openly admit it or not, do begin to shape the way we think, how we view God's word, how we live our lives, and what we think about. When we are filling our lives with things that are apart from the Holiness of God we indeed find ourselves drawn further away from Him and the way we live tends to reveal more of the flesh than Christ.
As a Christian we are called to 1) Be Holy as God is Holy (1 Peter 1:16), 2) Imitate God (Ephesians 5:1), 3) Be ambassadors for Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20), 4) Live obediently (John 14:15) -( Imitating God encompasses much such as grace, forgiveness, mercy, love, etc...) So as disciples we must spend time reading and meditating upon the Word of God and time in prayer and less time reading, watching, listening, talking about things that we know are apart from His will for us. OK - let me be quick to say I am not purporting legalism here or works based righteousness saying that if we don't do certain things and then do other things then we are more saved or can earn a better salvation. What I am saying is that if we claim to be a disciple of Christ shouldn't the things that we consume into our lives bring glory to Him? Should we really want to consume anything that makes us desire things of the flesh, things of the world, to be more blunt - sin?
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6:12 "'All things are lawful for me,' but not all things are helpful. 'All things are lawful for me,' but I will not be enslaved by anything." If Christians want to consume novels such as "The Shack" or "Shades of Grey" it is not "unlawful for them" but it is most assuredly not helpful and most assuredly leads to thoughts that are apart from Christ. If a Christian wants to go see "R" rated movies like "Magic Mike" or even movies rated "PG-13" that may have questionable content, it is not "unlawful", but it is absolutely devastating to ones personal testimony and their walk with Christ. Paul goes on to say in verse 19 that our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. When we engage in consuming those things that are not "unlawful" but assuredly harmful, we tarnish the image of God, spurn the Holy Spirit, and cheapen the grace of the Cross of Christ.
Some may say "Your no fun", but if fun is that which I must turn my back on Christ, then that is no fun at all. When Christ calls us to discipleship, He calls us away from the things that once enslaved into the freedom of the cross. He calls us to bear fruit, good fruit for Him. Fruit that has been cared for and is nourished in the Word and prayer. Fruit that represents who He truly is, not the makeshift model we want to present to the world so that we can "fit in". For once we are in Christ we are no longer who we once were but are new creations. Jim Elliot said it best "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." If we are in Christ may we remember, we are now His and what we consume should draw us nearer to Him and show Christ to others. What are you eating today?
As a heart patient I must be very careful about my diet, what I ingest, and as I Christian I must do the same. You see the same principle about food also applies to Christ's disciples. Not in the sense of food but in the sense of everything else we consume in our lives; It applies to the music we listen too, the books that we read, the websites we visit, all areas of the media that drive our lives as they play a role in our faith development. The things we ingest, rather we would openly admit it or not, do begin to shape the way we think, how we view God's word, how we live our lives, and what we think about. When we are filling our lives with things that are apart from the Holiness of God we indeed find ourselves drawn further away from Him and the way we live tends to reveal more of the flesh than Christ.
As a Christian we are called to 1) Be Holy as God is Holy (1 Peter 1:16), 2) Imitate God (Ephesians 5:1), 3) Be ambassadors for Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20), 4) Live obediently (John 14:15) -( Imitating God encompasses much such as grace, forgiveness, mercy, love, etc...) So as disciples we must spend time reading and meditating upon the Word of God and time in prayer and less time reading, watching, listening, talking about things that we know are apart from His will for us. OK - let me be quick to say I am not purporting legalism here or works based righteousness saying that if we don't do certain things and then do other things then we are more saved or can earn a better salvation. What I am saying is that if we claim to be a disciple of Christ shouldn't the things that we consume into our lives bring glory to Him? Should we really want to consume anything that makes us desire things of the flesh, things of the world, to be more blunt - sin?
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6:12 "'All things are lawful for me,' but not all things are helpful. 'All things are lawful for me,' but I will not be enslaved by anything." If Christians want to consume novels such as "The Shack" or "Shades of Grey" it is not "unlawful for them" but it is most assuredly not helpful and most assuredly leads to thoughts that are apart from Christ. If a Christian wants to go see "R" rated movies like "Magic Mike" or even movies rated "PG-13" that may have questionable content, it is not "unlawful", but it is absolutely devastating to ones personal testimony and their walk with Christ. Paul goes on to say in verse 19 that our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. When we engage in consuming those things that are not "unlawful" but assuredly harmful, we tarnish the image of God, spurn the Holy Spirit, and cheapen the grace of the Cross of Christ.
Some may say "Your no fun", but if fun is that which I must turn my back on Christ, then that is no fun at all. When Christ calls us to discipleship, He calls us away from the things that once enslaved into the freedom of the cross. He calls us to bear fruit, good fruit for Him. Fruit that has been cared for and is nourished in the Word and prayer. Fruit that represents who He truly is, not the makeshift model we want to present to the world so that we can "fit in". For once we are in Christ we are no longer who we once were but are new creations. Jim Elliot said it best "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." If we are in Christ may we remember, we are now His and what we consume should draw us nearer to Him and show Christ to others. What are you eating today?
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