Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. 1 Peter 2:1-3
It is likely that just about everyone is familiar with the mantra in the title of this article. It is a plea to make good food choices with the aim of promoting generally better physical health outcomes. It is no secret that a host of physical maladies owe their origins to poor food choices. Diabetes, heart disease, joint problems, etc. are all frequently the result of eating too much of the wrong kinds of foods. These physical maladies are not the sum of the danger either as these foods slow mental processes and help fuel emotional distress as well. The hardest part of all is that those foods that we most need to avoid are so tasty, inexpensive, convenient, and physiologically addictive. I am all too familiar with this battle in my own life, and I have come to know with painful clarity how differently my body performs when given the right fuel as opposed to the wrong. Yet, I still find myself locked in a battle to maintain the right habits.
The same can be said for our spiritual health regarding what we are consuming. As Peter’s statement above indicates, it is by consuming the pure milk of the word of God that our souls are nourished and made to grow. Paul raised this issue with the Corinthians as well, lamenting the fact that they were unable to partake of solid food (deeper things of God’s word) because they were still carnal (i.e. given to fleshly desires; 1 Corinthians 3:1-4). The Hebrews writer indicated the same struggle among his readers whose growth had been stunted because their spiritual diet was lacking, rendering them unprofitable in the Lord’s service (Hebrews 5:11-14).
In both 1 Corinthians and Hebrews, the recipients were in danger of falling because of their weak spiritual condition. Just as a malnourished physical body becomes weak, sluggish, less durable, etc., so does a spirit that has not consumed the right spiritual diet. What makes this such a precarious situation is that much like poor physical diets, the process of degradation can be so slow that a great deal of damage may be done before the symptoms become evident. When this is the case, it is much more difficult to restore the body to good health, and if left unattended long enough, it may be damaged beyond repair. Our spirit’s face the same danger if we continue to consume the wrong things (i.e. worldly philosophies and wisdom). In other words, we are what we eat both physically and spiritually.
A fascinating example of this principle is found in the colors found in flamingos. Pink flamingos are pink because of the beta carotene, a red orange pigment found in the algae, larvae, and brine shrimp comprising the bulk of their diets. Pink is not a hereditary trait per Britannica. They are in fact born a dull gray color, and their feathers become colored by the primary sources of food in their diets. For this, some are darker or brighter shades of pink while others take on an orange, red, or pure white color. The same may be said of our spirits as we make our choices of spiritual consumption. Will we take on the spiritual look of our Lord as we “eat His flesh and drink His blood” (John 6:50-58; 2 Corinthians 3:18), or will we take on the spiritual image of the adversary as we consume the spiritual “food” he offers? Never forget, you are what you eat.