Inside Your Head

You become what you take in.

You may have heard the saying, “You are what you eat.” If you eat lots of junk food and sweets, you know what will happen to your body. On the converse, you’ll see vastly different results if you eat fruits and vegetables.

Input = Output.

This maxim goes for almost anything in the world. Whatever you bring into your life will sooner or later show up in your words, thoughts, and actions. This can be both a good and a bad thing.

If you exercise every day (your input), soon you’ll be able to lift heavier objects and run further (output). On the converse, if you sit around watching TV or playing video games all day (input), your stamina levels would most likely decrease (output).

What are you bringing in?

While thinking about this post, I couldn’t get the lyrics of the song The Search by Christian rapper NF out of my head. Midway through the song he makes a powerful point by saying that what you feed your mind affects you in a powerful way.

He goes on to point out that if you wake up every day and look at yourself and say, “I’ll never be great”, then you won’t ever be great. Not because you can’t be, but because the hate you have for yourself will always find a way to destroy your hope.

The gist of the song is this: if you constantly take in things that aren’t healthy for you, if you always think you’ll never be any good, and fret about every little thing, your life is going to go downhill.

If all you ever take in is the language you hear at school, the secular movies you watch, and the rap music on the internet, what type of person are you going to become? Probably the same person as the people you surround yourself with, probably the person society tells you to be, probably the person the dark side of your brain tells you you are.

We need to bring Jesus in.

Please don’t be discouraged. The cycle works both ways. If you instead invest your time with quality friends, spend time in prayer and the Word, and listen to Jesus’ message, you will notice a vast difference in your life.

The problem with today’s society is that there is so much garbage out there. So many things designed to tempt, twist, and traumatize us teens and adults. This leaves us with two choices: listen to the world and suffer the consequences, or listen to Jesus and experience His rewards.

What will you put in your head?

I’ll be the first to confess: I know there have been times when I haven’t ingested the best content, whether in books I’ve read, movies I’ve seen, music I’ve listened to, or people I’ve been with. We may think it doesn’t make a difference, but the truth is universal: if you keep putting it in your head, it’s going to stick.

So what will you put in your head? Is there something in there right now that you need to turn over to God? Something that might not be inherently wicked, but maybe just isn’t the best for you? Are you willing to give it to Him and in place take in His message and His words?

Because I promise you, what God has to offer is far better than what the world has.

What will you allow to influence you?