On What You Ingest and Who You Want to Be

Verses:

Galatians 5:22-23: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things, there is no law.

Psalm 1:1: Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers…

Proverbs 13:20: Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the 

1 Corinthians 15:33: Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”

Thoughts:

I have talked about being mindful about what you surround yourself with. Today, I’d like to think about being mindful a bit differently: The things we love, the things we surround ourselves with, are in one sense things that we ingest. What do I mean by this? When you see something, hear something, and spend time with something (or someone), your brain is naturally taking in information from that interaction. So, your brain is “ingesting” those things. And, there is an old saying that goes “you are what you eat.” 

The Bible often uses imagery of plants. We are said to be branches of the vine of Jesus and we are called to bear fruits (John 15:5, Gal.5:22-23). In fact, if we are Christians, we will bear fruits. Not of our own power but by the Spirit’s work. 

In this imagery we can see that we are first in Christ. Christ as the vine is our source of life and how we gain nutrients. As Christians, we are growing more and more dependent on Christ for life. 

But, in this world we unfortunately are still able to “gain nutrients” apart from Christ. And, because we are not yet perfect, we do. 

I want you to look at what you actively feed your mind. 

Who are your friends ? And no, I don’t just mean the people you hang out with. 

The Merriam Webster definition of friend: is “one attached to another by affection or esteem” (Note: a true, godly friend is not always someone you "have affection for" in the moment, but rather someone that cares for your soul). 

So why do I point out this definition? I’m defining friends in this case as the people AND things that you have affection or esteem for. The things you like. Or, put another way, the things you fill your mind and soul with. 

As fruit bearing plants, we are in one sense only as good as the nutrition we give ourselves. And, we can only produce an abundance of good fruits if we are giving ourselves the proper nutrition. 

If we surround ourselves with life-taking, worldly things, all of the scarce nutrients that we do get will be working to support our malnourished being. 

To produce fruit, good fruit, we have to be mindful and active in filling our soil good things..

So, what do you like? Who do you spend time with? Who do you esteem? What Music do you love? What Books do you enjoy? What media do you constantly spend time with and enjoy? What do you ingest?

Are these things nourishing you or starving you? 

Now, write out or think about who you want to be. Wise? Godly? Patient? Grateful? Loving? How about this: Who does God call and command you to be?

Do those things that you listed above nurture the person you want to be? What are you doing now, what are you feeding yourself now, to produce those fruits? Are you feeding yourself poison or nutrients?

What can you do every single day to feed those goals?

Summary:

We are branches from the vine of Christ. We will not produce good fruit if we are not actively seeking to be rooted in Jesus. I’m not saying we in our own power can pluck ourselves from a dead plant and graft ourselves into Christ, but what I am saying is that we still have an obligation to physically surround ourselves with good things. Spiritually we are grafted into Christ, but physically we are still very much in the world. Be active. Surround yourself with friends that nurture you in the Lord. Ingest life-giving things [Christ is the life (John 14:6)]. 

Ask Yourself: Who are your “friends”? Who do you want to be? Who does God call you to be? Are you nourishing yourself or starving yourself?

#16

15 Aug 2025