One of the biggest contributors to shaping our lives is the type of content we consume on a daily basis. In today’s society, we are constantly surrounded by screens and technology which in turn overwhelms us with content, whether that be by choice or by force. The screens come in many shapes and sizes; ranging from iPhones, to iPads, to flat-screen TVs, to gaming monitors, to even big advertising screens.

We are also a generation who consume audio content more than ever; whether that be listening to the radio (a bit old school) or jamming out to our Spotify playlists, or even listening to an interesting podcast. All of this content, whether we actively seek it or not, exerts a profound influence on us.

Our subconscious mind, the part beyond our conscious control, remains in a state of constant awareness, absorbing every bit of information it encounters. Regrettably, many fail to recognize this phenomenon and gradually make poor life choices, experiencing a range of negative emotions without understanding their root causes. Multiple factors could contribute to these emotions, but it is highly likely that a significant portion relates to the content we feed our subconscious minds. This highlights the importance of discerning what we consume daily and critically assessing whether it benefits us or, conversely, proves detrimental to our well-being.

Controlling Our Thoughts

First, let’s discuss some passages in the Bible that agree with the statements we have previously talked about. In Philippians 4:8, it says:

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

It’s important to highlight here at the end of this verse it asks us to think about all these great things. The reason for this is that our actions in life are heavily dictated by the thoughts that are dwelling within our minds. If we are constantly thinking about negative thoughts throughout the day, it will eventually manifest itself into negative actions. Likewise, if we are constantly dwelling on positives, the fruit of this will be positive actions.

Now you might ask, “How can I control the thoughts that I am thinking about throughout my day?”. This could be a whole book in itself; however, one of the biggest influences on our thoughts, which we have already touched on, is the content we are consuming.

If we want our lives to be full of joy and peace, we must dwell on what is “True”, “Honourable”, “Lovely”, “Commendable” and “Excellent” as Paul writes.

Now, if after reading all that and you still don’t agree, let us have a little look at what our Lord and Saviour said himself. In Matthew 6:22-23, Jesus says:

“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”

Jesus makes it very clear that we are a reflection of the content we consume. This is a very serious statement as he is claiming that if our eyes are unhealthy, our whole body will be full of darkness. It is very easy to fall into the misconception that you can consume whatever type of content you want, and still be able to be a light in the world, just as Jesus has called us to be.

We know from what Jesus is saying that it is impossible to be a light in this world whilst constantly consuming darkness. To get a clearer understanding of why this is the case, think about how eating bad food affects your body. If your diet was to consist of doughnuts every day, your body would eventually begin to function very poorly.

The body and the mind work in very similar ways, so much so that if we feed the brain poor content it begins to function poorly just like the body. This is why it is so important that we as Christians feed our brain the healthy content it needs so that we can live a blessed life as God wants us to live — full of peace, living like Jesus and spreading his love in our daily actions.

Avoiding Bad Content

We are the first generation in human history to have this level of access to whatever type of content we are interested in. Now this can be seen as both a good thing and a bad thing, depending on what type of content we are consuming.

First, let’s discuss the content that we know for sure will negatively impact us, especially as Christians. Pornography is an obvious culprit but is not discussed as to why it is so bad for us. Firstly, as we should always do, let’s check to see what the Bible says. Jesus says in Matthew 5:28:

“But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than your whole body be thrown into hell.”

Jesus is very clear here as to how serious this type of sin is. He is teaching us that even our thoughts and desires can be sinful and we should avoid these things at all costs. Watching pornography is not only a lustful action but also leads us to think it is normal to look at people with lust and view them as objects to fulfil our desires, rather than as human beings wonderfully made in God’s image.

Pornography has a long list of negatives including addiction, desensitization, distorting the view of intimacy, causing relationship problems, exploitation — the list goes on. Many people don’t see the issue with watching this type of content, and it is even normalized in this society. But this sexual sin destroys us slowly from within and it often goes unnoticed.

There has been a dramatic increase in porn use, which has also followed the trend of an increase in loneliness and divorce in our society, with multiple studies suggesting this is part of the cause. These are just some of the reasons why we as Christians, who are held to a higher standard, must avoid this type of content at all costs.

Unfortunately for us, because of pornography’s virality, it has even spread to our social media, into movies and series that we watch, into music videos, and more. We must be diligent to avoid this type of content and be prepared to set ourselves free.

Consuming Good Content

As younger people, we can be very easily influenced by our role models and the people that we look up to or want to be like. Back before the introduction of social media, people would only get to see glimpses of their role models or favourite celebrities in a movie or on a talk show. Nowadays, our celebrities are much different; we have Streamers, YouTubers, Reality TV stars, influencers, artists, and more who we get to see almost every day.

Because of the amount of content we consume daily from our favourite “celebrities,” we begin to emulate whatever personality or actions they put out in their content — often without realising it.

You may have heard the saying: “You are the result of the 5 people you hang around with the most.” This is a very realistic statement, and if you are consuming hours a day of content from your favourite celebrity, that person moves into your 5 closest people.

As Christians, one of our main goals is to become more and more Christ-like, so if we are consistently consuming content from celebrities or people we follow that are not aligned with our values and beliefs of becoming more Christ-like, we will stray further from our goal and start to behave more like the world instead of Christ.

Replacing Negative Content with Spirit-Filled Content

This is a challenging truth to realise, especially at a young age, and trust me, we found it hard to take in too. However, in order to grow, you have to experience the pain of letting these types of things go so that you can make space for new things in your life that will lead to more joy and peace.

Once you let go of content that does not profit you or how you want to live your life, you must replace it with new content that will feed your spirit.

The staple every Christian must be consuming is the Bible. It is our guide to life, full of God’s living word.

If you haven’t read the Bible before, this is what we would suggest for you: To begin reading from Matthew chapter one and read a chapter a day. By doing this you will be constantly feeding yourself the Word every day, helping you grow in your walk with Christ.

This does take some discipline as sometimes we may not want to read or we might find it boring. That is okay. However, if we turn this into a habit, it can become something we look forward to each and every day — finding out more wisdom and knowledge that God has for us.

The book of Matthew is the beginning of the Gospels and narrates the life of Jesus, our perfect example of how God wants us to live. This is a great way to start the Bible as you are able to understand who Jesus is.

Some more practical tips you can take are to find like-minded Christian content creators who you find interesting and follow them. These are role models that we should be looking up to. Now, they may not be perfect, and neither are we, but if they are spreading the gospel online and openly living the Christian life, we know that they have the right intentions and are trying to live for God.

These are people we want in our circle, so consuming their content will positively influence us and hopefully inspire us to live more for God and less for ourselves.

We can also begin to replace the music we listen to by people who don’t align with Christ, with music by people who do follow Christ and praise Christ in their songs.

These artists may not be as trendy as what everyone might be listening to currently, but who cares? We live in the world but are not of the world and are called to be apart from the world.

There are many Christian artists out there, in all different types of genres, who make great music that praise our Lord. We just need to be able to give them a try.

When scrolling through Netflix or trying to decide what you’re going to watch at the cinema, you must use discernment and think about what effect the show or film will have on you.

Understand what triggers your flesh and thoughts and use this to help you. This can also be applied for music.

This does not mean that we cannot consume anything that is not Godly or Christian. I am sure we all love an action movie or love listening to artists who are not Christian, but we must be wary and understand the effect it has on us and our relationship with God.

Everyone is different and only you will truly know if what you are consuming is leading you down the wrong path.

From what has been spoken about so far, we hope you can understand how impactful the content we consume is and how much of a crucial role it plays in shaping our thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes.

From the books we read to the movies we watch, everything we expose ourselves to has an impact on us.

Therefore, it is essential to be mindful of the content we consume and ensure that it aligns with our values and beliefs. As Romans 12:2 says:

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.”

We have the power to choose what we allow into our minds, and by doing so, we can shape our lives and the world around us in a positive way.