“Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are.”
Anthelme Brillat-Savarin – 1826
I read the book “You Are What You Eat” several years ago. The book suggested if we eat good food, then we’ll be healthy. What we ingest has a direct correlation to how well we feel. What we put into ourselves comes out. Like the old computer adage implies, “Garbage In, Garbage Out.” We will become whatever we feast on and put into ourselves. Input affects output. Galatians 6:7b says, “A man reaps what he sows.”
The principal of sowing and reaping doesn’t just apply to food. What our eyes watch or read, what we listen to, and how we spend our time, each has an effect on our spiritual life. We become like the people we spend the most time with, so we need to choose our friends wisely. Where we place our affections and what has our attention, correlates to the health of our soul.
Fasting helps break the control food has on me. When we want to weaken something, we starve it. If we struggle with fear, then we need to limit that which makes us more anxious – what we listen to, watch, or read. Likewise, the opposite is true. We feed what we want to strengthen and develop. If we want to build our faith, then we need to read biographies of men and women of faith and listen to testimonies which tones up our trust.
We are all consumers. Everything we consume are like seeds planted inside of us and one day there will be a harvest. We choose what we want to harvest by the type of seeds we plant. We decide who we want to become, by intentionally planting that which will reap a good crop.
Galatians 6:8-9 goes on to say: “The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” For the sake of our spirits, let’s be mindful with what we put inside of us. After all, we are what we eat.
“We reap what we sow. Choose what you nourish carefully.”
Anonymous
Relevant Reflections:
What seeds are you planting?
How has your harvest of who you’ve become, been a direct result of what you’ve sown?