If your daily diet consisted of two pots of coffee, donuts for breakfast, Cheetos and M&Ms for lunch with a 2-liter of pop, and fried chicken, green beans, ice cream, and water for dessert, how do you think you would feel over time? Sluggish? Lazy? Maybe you would even start packing on the pounds and develop irreversible health problems. I’m thinking you probably wouldn’t feel like running a marathon, or maybe even getting off the couch for a leisurely stroll.
It’s not healthy or sustainable to try and survive on a diet that consists 90% of junk food and 10% healthy food (here’s to green beans and a glass of water!).
In the same way, it’s not spiritually healthy to consist on a diet of 90% messages that point you to a worldly view and 10% messages from God’s Word. Going to church every Sunday is a great way to start one’s week, but if it’s the only time in seven days you are exposed to God’s words, soon your spiritual life will be lacking in essential vitamins and minerals needed to live an abundant life.
Philippians 4:8 states we are to think on things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable. I try to live my life according to that standard: making sure that 90% of what goes into my mind is Christ-centered, wholesome, and clean to counteract the 10% worldly messages that I allow to penetrate my mind.
Living this type of lifestyle doesn’t make me a weirdo or out of touch with society. But, as a Christ follower, I want to focus on things that please my Father. And I have a husband and three children who see the way I live my life – out in the community as well as behind closed doors. Being authentic no matter who I’m with is important to me.
This question is asked periodically in our house: “How balanced is your diet lately?” and it has nothing to do with the food they are eating. Instead of lecturing or deciding for our kids what they expose themselves to, it helps them “check” themselves and bring their lives back into balance when they have swerved too far in the wrong direction.
It’s not just for them though. I need to assess the balance in my life regularly as well.
Let me bring you into the circle of our family and ask: “How balanced is your diet lately?”
© Cheri Swalwell 2020