Hey darling, welcome back to the blog! Today’s post is inspired by something I’ve been doing differently in my life lately: being intentional and cautious about what I consume and how I consume it. It’s really about finding a bit more balance.
A little background about me, if you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll know that a couple of years ago, I was really into positive thinking, vision boards, and manifestation. Long story short, I drifted away from Christianity because I was looking for healing in all the wrong places. When I eventually came back, I became very aware that one of my biggest mistakes was trying to do everything in my own power without leaning on the Lord. Manifestation is all about doing everything in your own power and positive thinking, But for me, that wasn’t the right path. As Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
When I returned to Christianity, I became very cautious about the mainstream media and the books in my home office. I literally went through everything, Ruthless Lee-style! There were some self-help books I really liked, but since they weren’t written by Christian authors, I decided to let go of quite a few. I donated many to charity, and some I put away in the shed. I also went through my YouTube subscriptions, my podcasts, and basically all the media I was consuming, unsubscribing from things that didn’t align with my faith. As Psalm 101:3 says, “I will not look with approval on anything that is vile. I hate what faithless people do; I will have no part in it.”
That process was important because I needed to build a strong foundation in God’s Word before I could take in information from other media sources. Without that foundation, it’s easy to be swayed. But when your roots are deep in the Word, it’s much harder to be deceived; you start discerning what doesn’t quite sit right, often without even realising it. Hebrews 4:12 reminds us that “the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
Nowadays, I do listen to content that isn’t always created by Christian authors, but I’ve learned how to discern. I can enjoy certain things that align with my values, while also recognising when something isn’t quite right from a Christian perspective. When that happens, I go back to the Bible for clarity. 1 John 4:1 tells us to “test the spirits to see whether they are from God.”
I’ve picked up some helpful tips and tools along the way, and I wanted to share some of them here. Hopefully, this blog post will encourage and help you too!
As Christians living in a world full of media, entertainment, and endless opinions, we are constantly faced with a choice:
What do we let into our minds, and how does it shape us?
I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately, about how the balance between what we consume and what we create affects not only our productivity, but our spiritual health. It’s not just about saying “that’s bad” or “that’s good”, it’s about learning to discern, to know when something is harmless fun and when something is slowly pulling us away from God’s light.
Emptying Your Mind and Giving It to God
One of the biggest things I teach, to myself and to others, is the practice of emptying out your mind.
Before bed, pray. In the morning, pray. It doesn’t have to be hands together, head bowed every single time, it can simply be talking to God. Telling Him your thoughts. Pouring out your worries.
Because here’s what happens when you don’t:
- You wake up carrying yesterday’s burdens.
- You go to bed with your head full of noise from the day.
- You stop feeling light and creative, and start feeling heavy and distracted.
When I’ve taken time to empty out my thoughts in the morning, I walk into the day lighter. I’m ready. I’m creative. When I don’t, I feel unbalanced, like the world’s noise is drowning out God’s voice.
Creating More Than You Consume
Lately, I’ve been spending a lot more time creating content, podcasts, videos, writing, and less time mindlessly consuming. And the change has been massive.
When you produce more than you consume, you:
- Strengthen your creative muscles.
- Control the narrative you’re living by.
- Spend less time distracted by gossip, noise, or negativity.
This is a form of spiritual discipline. It’s not just about creativity, it’s about making sure your life isn’t dominated by the voices of others, but shaped by what God is putting in you.
Balancing What You Watch, Read, and Listen To
Some Christians don’t listen to gospel at all, only secular music. That’s their choice, but I believe in balance.
Ask yourself:
- Could I swap some YouTube time for Christian creators?
- Could I mix fun podcasts with ones that encourage me spiritually?
- Could I add in books or content that point me back to Christ?
It doesn’t mean every single thing has to be Bible-focused. I listen to business and finance content too, but there has to be a balance. If you are fully cut off from godly input, you will drift.
Discernment in Daily Life
Discernment isn’t about paranoia; it’s not pausing every scene of a movie to check if it’s biblically accurate. It’s about:
- Knowing your boundaries.
- Recognising when something is a red flag.
- Choosing when to let something in and when to leave it out.
Sometimes you might keep 20% of a message and let go of the rest. Sometimes you throw it all away. The key is being intentional instead of passively letting everything enter your mind.
Practical Tools That Help Me Stay Aligned
I love little reminders and tools that keep me focused. One of my daily reminders says:
With simple tools, my creativity flourishes in God’s light.
It’s so true. Just reading it resets my thinking.
Today, with nothing but a simple setup, I recorded a podcast episode, and it turned out powerful.
I’m even thinking of sharing my full morning flow as a free resource, because so many people ask how to make these habits part of everyday life.
At the end of the day, this all comes down to muscle.
- The muscle of discipline.
- The muscle of discernment.
- The muscle of balance.
These things don’t just appear overnight; you grow them. You train them. You strengthen them day by day. And as you do, you’ll find that your creativity, your spiritual life, and your peace all start to flourish in ways you never imagined.
Well, that’s the end of the blog post for today, darling. I hope the tips I’ve shared have served you and will continue to serve you, feel free to come back to them anytime. I feel like this is a blog post that’s really powerful. It was almost a turning point for me, and it is something I struggled with in the beginning.
As I said before, you know, I’ve often heard in the Christian community that you should be in the world but not of the world. For me, when I came back to Christianity, I felt like, “How am I supposed to do that?” I felt like I had to keep myself closed off from everything except everything Christian. But what I’m truly understanding now is that once you have that foundation, you’re good. It’s very, very important to have that foundation so that you can decide and realise that sometimes you’re discerning without even realising it.
I don’t want to repeat everything I’ve already written in the blog post, but especially emptying out your mind during your prayers every morning or every night, doing that is very powerful. None of us, and I hate to use this energy metaphor, but it’s true, none of us are USB drives. When you think about a USB drive, it only has a certain amount of capacity to store stuff. That’s similar to us. We only have a certain capacity, but what’s different is that we’re not meant to store information; we’re meant to create.
In order for us to create and be the person we were created to be, we have to empty ourselves out. That means in the morning, empty yourself out so that you’re free and able to make choices that honour God. And at bedtime, empty out all your thoughts, don’t take them into the night. That’s very important.
And yeah, when you’re listening to content or consuming media, don’t be scared to say, “No, this is not great, this isn’t something I should listen to,” or “This is good, but some parts of what this person is saying are questionable, so I’m going to raise a red flag.” Maybe later on, you can go back to it biblically, or just highlight it and come back to it because you’re not sure. Make it a habit to question things instead of passively consuming everything.
One last tip I’ll add here at the end is: if you’re tired, don’t lazily consume media content. When you’re tired, your discernment isn’t great. Don’t watch something new that might mess with you. Personally, I don’t watch new stuff when I’m tired. I watch something I already know is fine, something light, nothing too heavy. I notice that heavy shows change my mood, so I save those for daytime when I’m more alert and able to discern.
Later in the evening, I avoid heavy content because I don’t have the energy to discern properly, and I don’t want to take those thoughts into my subconscious overnight. Instead, I watch light things or straight-up biblical content, sermons, or sometimes I just don’t watch anything at all. I create content, journal, spend time with the hubby, play with my daughter, or get ready for bed. It’s really not a big deal.
Anyway, that’s it for now, my darling. I love you. This was a long post, I think my blog posts are getting longer these days! But anyway, I’m gonna go make myself a cup of tea and chill.
Sending blessings your way!
Scherise. X
