It is difficult these days to find a media source that produces plain, untarnished facts. Opinion has become the hook, the very thing that gives headlines their gripping, urgent edge and pulls us into an article even though it often contains very few verifiable facts. It’s mostly commentary designed to provoke us and keep us coming back for more garbage. We click expecting information and walk away instead with someone else’s anger or “facts” about a situation that only increase our anxiety. Proverbs 15, which was written over 3,000 years ago, provides an answer to this anxiety that is completely applicable today:
“A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” (Proverbs 15:1)
“The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly, But the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness.” (Proverbs 15:2)
“The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge, But the mouth of fools feeds on foolishness.” (Proverbs 15:14)
“Feeds” in Proverbs 15:14, is describes our habitual intake—not a single bad decision. What we feed on becomes what we think about and, ultimately, what our lives produce. Every scroll through every angry headline and sarcastic comment affects our minds. Our source of truth is so critically important. We know we can 100% trust God’s Word. If we’re regularly consuming “news” that is not reliable truth—but rather opinion dressed up as “insight,” outrage dressed up as “concern,” or harshness dressed up as “honesty”—it’s no wonder a steady diet of this garbage leaves us anxious!
My friend, a great deal of our anxiety doesn’t come from our own circumstances, but rather from we let into our minds hour after hour. A mind marinating in harsh words and conflict does not produce peace. It produces exactly what it is fed. We must feed our souls with God’s Word.
Our flesh has an appetite, and it is not a picky eater.
Unlike our born again souls, our unregenerate flesh will happily consume harsh commentary and cynicism because it is drawn toward conflict and alarm the way a moth is drawn toward a flame. The soul, born again and righteous in Christ, does not crave this. But, if we allow it, the flesh will grab the remote, so to speak, unless we are intentionally keeping the Spirit in control of our source of truth. The Bible makes it clear that we are in spiritual warfare:
“I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.” (Galatians 5:16-17)
The information we consume is NEVER neutral. It ALWAYS feeds one side of the war or the other, and anxiety is the clearest fingerprint of what we’re feeding our minds. When the flesh wins that daily battle, we risk experiencing a diminishing of the presence of the Holy Spirit. A fire doesn’t go out in dramatic failure. It just grows dim, then dimmer, until the warmth is gone, and we wonder why we feel so anxious, so joyless, and so disconnected from the very God we claim to love. Ephesians makes the connection between our intake, our output, and the Spirit’s grief explicit.
“Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” (Ephesians 4:29-30)
This is the tragic cost of a foolish media diet. It is not simply that we waste time or feel irritated afterward. It is that our peace erodes, our capacity to glorify God is diminished, and our usefulness for eternal kingdom work gets cut off at the root, because an anxious mind saturated with harshness and folly cannot simultaneously produce the fruit of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, these are not manufactured by a mind marinating in outrage. They are grown by the glorious mind of Christ—which every born again believer has at his or her disposal. In fact, we have God’s direct antidote to an anxious, overfed mind.
“Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7)
But we will never believe we can cast our care on Christ—or that He actually cares for us—as long as we’re feeding our mind with garbage. But when we break free from the garbage, we can SEE, BELIEVE, and EXPERIENCE God’s glorious promise:
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will GUARD your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)
Notice that peace is described as a guard. It stands watch over the heart and mind! But we cannot expect a guard to protect a gate we’ve propped wide open all day. That brings us to what we can actually fill the space with once we close that gate to the garbage. Paul gives us the list.
“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things.” (Philippians 4:8)
This choice is the daily fork in the road Solomon described long before algorithms. Every single day, we decide which mind we are going to think with: the mind of Christ or the mind of the flesh. Paul reminds us that we already possess the first option.
“But we have the mind of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 2:16)
It is available. It is ours. But it will not run on autopilot in a world engineered to feed us anxiety instead. I have had to learn this the hard way, through seasons when I let harsh commentary and cynical noise fill hours I could have spent renewing my mind in Christ.
Foolish noise feeds anxiety; God’s wisdom feeds peace. Our choice is simple—even when it does not seem easy.
Prayer
Lord, I confess that I have often fed my mind on things that stir up anxiety, harshness, and foolishness rather than things that build wisdom and peace. Forgive me for the hours I have given to alarming voices instead of Your voice. Help me guard what enters my eyes, my ears, and my heart today. Help me cast every anxious thought onto You, and let Your peace stand guard over my heart and mind. Renew my mind, quench nothing of Your Spirit within me, and let me think with the mind of Christ rather than the mind of my flesh. Make me useful for Your kingdom, not anxious and dulled by foolishness. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Authors Note: If you have a reliable media source you turn to for straightforward facts about what is actually happening in the world, one that is not soaked in opinion or designed to alarm, I would genuinely love to hear about it in the comments. We know social media is often full of opinion, and mainstream outlets increasingly blur fact and commentary, so let’s help each other find sources worth trusting! I appreciate all of you who are constantly encouraging us—we are better together because we have unbreakable bonds in Christ.
