The Soul’s Stomach Growl
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We have all experienced the symptoms of hunger: the rumbling growl, the gnawing pit deep in our stomach, low energy, and irritability. Like a persistent tap on the shoulder, hunger relentlessly demands our attention, pushing other thoughts aside until its demands are met.
We’ve all felt hunger pangs, but it’s unlikely that anyone reading this has endured starvation. While we may not have experienced starvation, we’ve seen the horrific images of starving children. They are emaciated, frail, and gaunt with hollow, sunken eyes surrounded by sharp cheekbones as they stare blankly into space. Their skin clings to their skeletal frame, exposing every rib and joint. Their limbs are thin and fragile, with hands resembling skeletal claws. Without food, they die a slow, pitiful, agonizing death.
What Does Your Soul Look Like?
If you could look in a spiritual mirror, what would you see? Would your soul appear fit, trim, and muscular, or would it be emaciated and gaunt, with hollow, sunken eyes and a feeble heart?
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Too many souls are starving—spiritually malnourished and weak. Consequently, they lack the fortitude to confront life’s inevitable challenges with unwavering confidence in God’s wise and good providence, bolstered by His assurances that He will work all things together for good.¹ Moreover, weak souls are highly susceptible to being influenced and conformed to contemporary culture instead of becoming godly agents of gospel transformation.
Unlike physical starvation, however, spiritual starvation is insidious. We can be spiritually starving and not even realize it. One symptom of spiritual starvation is indifference to spiritual things. A starving soul has little appetite for God’s Word. It is hungry, but its spiritual stomach never growls. The starving soul is tepid—it is lukewarm.²
Junk Food for the Soul
When we are physically hungry, it is tempting to reach for junk food: chips, cookies, pastries, and the like. Junk food is convenient, appealing, and temporarily satisfying. But while it alleviates hunger pangs, junk food is unhealthy. Its long-term consequences include increased risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension. A diet high in junk food can also lead to cognitive decline, digestive disorders, dental problems, mental health issues, and premature aging.
When we are spiritually hungry, we are often tempted to reach for spiritual junk food. Like physical junk food, spiritual junk food comes beautifully packaged and enticingly marketed. It promises to fill our hunger for meaning and happiness, but instead leaves us with weak, unhealthy souls.
Spiritual junk food comes in many forms.
Sunday is Game Day
Sports are good, but like most good things, sports can become an idol that replaces God in our lives and in the lives of our children. Many Christian parents place a greater priority on their children’s participation in sports than on worship. They would never dream of having their children skip a game or practice on Sunday but do not hesitate to skip church if it conflicts with their children’s sports schedule. Coaches used to avoid scheduling games or practices on Sundays or not until the afternoon to avoid conflicts with church services. That is no longer the case. Consider the findings of a recent Gallup Poll as reported by the Wall Street Journal: “56% of Americans seldom or never attend a religious service. Only 21% go weekly. … There was a time when families went to church and then to their kids’ sports events. Now, it appears, Sunday is just game day [emphasis added].”³
Contrast this with Eric Liddell, the Scottish athlete and devout Christian who famously refused to compete in the 100-meter race at the 1924 Paris Olympics because the event was scheduled on a Sunday. In the movie Chariots of Fire, Liddell is depicted as saying, “I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure.”⁴ Even though he believed his athletic ability was a gift from God, he did not allow that gift to become an idol.
It’s All About Me
An insidious form of spiritual junk food is shallow sermons that tickle ears: “The time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths” (2 Timothy 4:3–4). Too many sermons are spiritually narcissistic, falsely claiming God promises happiness and prosperity in this life if we have enough faith.
Try selling that “gospel” to the Christians who have been and continue to suffer martyrdom for their faith, or to the believers throughout history who have endured immense suffering while faithfully serving Christ. In stark contrast to the “prosperity gospel,” the author of Hebrews commends the early Christians for their remarkable response to the confiscation of their property. He writes, “For you had compassion on those in prison and joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, knowing that you yourselves had a better possession and an enduring one” (10:34). The writer of Hebrews didn’t accuse them of lacking faith; instead, he highlighted their faith as the driving force behind their Christlike response to persecution.
True prosperity lies in the ability to echo the words of great saints who have lost everything.
Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation (Habakkuk 3:17–18).
And he said, ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord’ (Job 1:21).
Vulgar, Immoral, Violent Entertainment
Paul instructs us to fill our minds with “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Philippians 4:8). Does the entertainment you consume align with these standards? Or is it tainted with immorality, vulgarity, greed, and violence? Does your entertainment nurture or degrade your character? Does it elevate your mind or degrade it? Is your soul healthier or sicker because of the entertainment you consume?
Substituting Social Media for the Bible
Have you thought about the amount of time you spend on social media compared to the time you dedicate to God’s Word? Social media can be a valuable resource, but it can also become an idol. It won’t transform your soul—but God’s Word will. Jesus prayed, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17). Paul encourages us to “do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind” (Romans 12:2).
New Year’s Resolution—A Healthy Soul
According to the most recent survey, 57% of U.S. adults make New Year’s resolutions. According to a recent survey by Statista,5 the top five New Year’s resolutions among Americans for 2025 are:
Save more money: 20% of respondents aim to improve their financial habits by increasing savings.
Eat healthier: Approximately 19% plan to adopt better dietary habits.
Exercise more: 19% intend to increase their physical activity levels.
Lose weight: 18% are focused on weight loss goals.
Spend more time with family and friends: 14% wish to enhance their personal relationships by dedicating more time to loved ones.
Three of the five resolutions are related to health: Excise more, eat better, lose weight.
What is good for the body is good for the soul. Make a resolution to get more spiritual exercise and eat better spiritual food.
Our souls are not made for junk food; they are made for God. Only God can satisfy the hunger of our souls. Reflecting on the hunger of the human soul, C.S. Lewis captures this truth beautifully:
God made us: invented us as a man invents an engine. A car is made to run on petrol, and it would not run properly on anything else. Now God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other. That is why it is just no good asking God to make us happy in our own way without bothering about religion. God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.6
Five Spiritual Resolutions
As you enter the new year, make five spiritual resolutions:
Commit to daily Bible reading.
Develop a consistent habit of prayer.
Become a member of a church that faithfully teaches the whole counsel of God, including challenging truths.
Prioritize regular church attendance with your family, ensuring that neither sports, other activities, nor sleep keep you from worship and service.
Limit time on social media and choose uplifting and wholesome entertainment.
As Christian school leaders, we have the profound privilege and responsibility of nurturing the minds and souls of our students. In a world saturated with distractions, counterfeit comforts, and spiritual junk food, it’s easy to overlook the subtle yet significant signs of spiritual malnourishment—in ourselves and in those we lead. As we reflect on our spiritual health and that of our school communities, let us resolve to prioritize feeding our souls with the rich and nourishing truths of God’s Word. This new year, let us embrace the opportunity to lead by example, fostering environments where spiritual vitality flourishes and where Christ is glorified in all we do.
Our soul’s growl with hunger for good soul food. Don’t feed it junk. Resolve to nourish your soul with the nutrient-rich food from the Bible, solid biblical preaching, prayer, and wholesome, uplifting entertainment.
We cannot give what we do not possess.
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Endnotes
Romans 8:28; John 16:33.
Revelation 3:15–16.
Henninger, D. (2024, December 25). Merry bomb-free Christmas. The Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/opinion/merry-bomb-free-christmas-religion-persecution-world-76e2b5c5
Weir, J. S. (2024, July 26). Eric Liddell is still winning admirers 100 years on. The Times. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/eric-liddell-is-still-winning-admirers-100-years-on-tvkpgxcxk
Statista. (2024). Most common New Year’s resolutions in the U.S. for 2025. Retrieved December 24, 2024, from https://www.statista.com/chart/29019/most-common-new-years-resolutions-us/
Lewis, C. S. (2009). Mere Christianity.