Tag Archives: feeding your spirit

February 16, 2024 · 5:16 AM

Disciplining Your Flesh

I used to hate the start of basketball season at school. I loved to play, but the training for it killed me every year. I would go home and soak in the tub because my body was so sore. Over the summer, I would become undisciplined with my exercises and I would pay the price that week. Once I had conditioned my body I was good. The Bible talks about this kind of discipline in 1 Corinthians 9:27. Paul said that he had to discipline his body to keep it under control. It’s not an easy task to discipline your body or flesh, but it’s something we must do as believers. Fasting is one way to bring it under discipline. Having an accountability partner is another one. We discipline our flesh so our spirit can thrive. What parts of your flesh do you need to discipline? It won’t be easy at first, maybe even painful, but keep at it and seek God’s strength.

Here are some Bible verses on areas we need to discipline.

1. Do not let unwholesome [foul, profane, worthless, vulgar] words ever come out of your mouth, but only such speech as is good for building up others, according to the need and the occasion, so that it will be a blessing to those who hear [you speak].

Ephesians 4:29 AMP

2. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12:2 ESV

3. Plan carefully what you do, and whatever you do will turn out right.

Proverbs 4:26 GNT

4. We look away from the natural realm and we focus our attention and expectation onto Jesus who birthed faith within us and who leads us forward into faith’s perfection. His example is this: Because his heart was focused on the joy of knowing that you would be his, he endured the agony of the cross and conquered its humiliation, and now sits exalted at the right hand of the throne of God!

Hebrews 12:2 TPT

5. Set your mind and keep focused habitually on the things above [the heavenly things], not on things that are on the earth [which have only temporal value].

Colossians 3:2 AMP

Photo by SwapnIl Dwivedi on Unsplash

Feeding Your Spirit

One of my teachers taught me a tale of two dogs. They were alike in every way. They asked who would win in a fight. I thought that if they were alike in every way, it would end in a tie. They told me I was correct. Then they said, “Let’s take those same two dogs and only feed one of them. If they were to fight, who would win?” Again, I thought it was pretty easy and told them the one that was fed would win. After agreeing with my assessment, they explained that there is always a fight going on inside each one of us between our flesh and our spirit. No matter how much I wanted one of them to win, it would always be the one I fed the most.

I love that the Bible didn’t cover up things or just show us the best version of people’s lives. It told us how Abraham lied about his wife being his sister. It kept the part where Moses murdered an Egyptian. It didn’t try to cover up David’s adultery like he did. It included Jesus rebuking Peter. Every one of these people are heroes in the faith to us, but they were just as human as you and I are. They wanted to serve God as much as you, and they failed Him as much as we do. What made them stand out was that they repented and learned to feed their spirit more. They knew that they needed to change who they fed when they messed up, and they did it.

In Psalms 86:11, David prayed, “Teach me, Lord, what you want me to do, and I will obey you faithfully; teach me to serve you with complete devotion” (GNT). David, like all these other heroes of faith, always went back to God to teach him in those moments of failure or need. He wanted to serve God with complete devotion. In order for us to do that, we must be willing to be taught how by God and we must feed our spirit the Word of God. We must spend time in prayer and obedience. We have to spend less time feeding our flesh, and to not dismiss the tension of the fight between the two inside of us. If you find yourself failing more times than not, take a look at how you spend your time. What are you spending your time doing? Which side is that feeding? You can always change who your feeding to change results. Ask God to teach you what He wants you to do and how He wants you to feed your spirit. He will show you.

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

Feed Your Soul

Brian Tracy, who is a leader in the field of sales, says, Your outer world will always reflect your inner world.” He’s saying that no matter how much we try to mask what is going on inside of us, it will always find its way to the surface. It’s hard to produce positive results if you’re a mess inside. He believes you should work on your mental health first before you try to correct any outward behavior. Many people go through life trying to repair the fruit of the problem without trying to correct the root of the problem first. That’s a losing battle because the fruit will keep showing up until you deal with the root.

I believe the same thing is true of us spiritually. Many of us spend a ton of money and time addressing the physical aspect of our lives while neglecting the spiritual aspect. One of these will live forever, and one will turn back into dust. We must learn to feed our spirit by reading the Word of God, praying, going to church, having fellowship with other believers and exercising our faith. Imagine trying to run a marathon without hydrating or feeding your body. It would collapse, yet we try to do this to our soul all the time.

In Proverbs 4:23, Solomon wrote, “Pay attention to the welfare of your innermost being, for from there flows the wellspring of life” (TPT). How can you continue to care for the needs of others, being life for them when they need it, if you don’t take care of the well inside of you? You and I have a deep well of life giving water inside of us that God wants us to draw from so we can bless others, but we must learn to care for it and ourselves first. If you’re dry and empty inside, it’s difficult to pour out anything of substance to others. Feed your soul, then feed others.

Photo by Igor Rodrigues on Unsplash

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