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How To Filter Life Through Faith

When you think of the word “filter” what comes to mind? The process of straining out what you want and leaving what you don’t? The use of a filter can be applied to many different things, but have you considered applying it to life? Let’s discuss how to filter life through faith. 

What is a filter?

According to this dictionary, a filter can be defined as a device that prevents some kinds of light, sound, electronic noises, etc., from passing through. Filtering is to remove (something unwanted) by using a filter. 

When we look at this from a faith perspective, faith is the filter and life is the thing being filtered. 

Why Should I Filter My Life Through Faith?

As Christians, we should look different from the rest of the world around us. Filtering life through faith is something that we should be applying to all aspects of our lives. This is what sets us apart from the world.

An example of this could be how we view our bodies, how we treat them and what we do with them. I recently went through a health scare that involved surgery and recovery time. Prior to that experience, I really took advantage of what my body could do. Like the simple act of getting out of bed in the morning. I certainly never had appreciation for the complexity of all of the internal processes of the body and its ability to heal itself. 

I had a relatively healthy lifestyle but I always thought of eating well and getting active as a chore. Only recognizing my body for how it looked (or didn’t look) and never appreciated what it was doing for me or allowed me to be capable of. 

After the health scare and surgery I developed a new appreciation for the way God has created our bodies. When you think about it, it’s amazing how resilient our bodies are and how beautifully complex our body systems were made. I’m so thankful that God made my body capable of healing itself after surgery with the ability to regain the strength and mobility it once had. Nothing makes you realize how much you take for granted than the reality check of needing help getting out of bed or using the bathroom (cringe)! I realized that I wasn’t being gentle with myself or viewing my body the way God intended – stewarding it as a temple of the Holy Spirit. 

I had been looking for a resource to help me not only get back in shape but shift my mindset about living, moving and eating well. I’ve finally found a faith based fitness membership that includes workouts, recipes as well as mindset and fitness education. My goal is to filter every aspect of my life through my faith – even fitness and nutrition. I’m learning to shift my mindset on the way that I’m stewarding my body. Being grateful that God made me with a beautifully complex body inside and out. I now appreciate that it enables me to do the things I love to do. This means treating it with kindness and patience. Eating to fuel my body while still enjoying food without restriction and moving my body regularly through physical activities that I enjoy. 

How Else Can We Filter Life Through Faith?

This is just a consolidated list; you may come up with other ideas on your own based on personal conviction. I encourage you to take some time to bring this to the Lord in prayer and ask the Holy Spirit to put on your heart the things that are specific to you. 

How we act & treat others: You may be the only example of a Christian that someone sees (at work or at school, etc). Are you acting in a way that would allow others to see the fruit of the Spirit, the character of Jesus?

What we think & say: Are you taking every thought captive and filtering them through God’s word? Are you steering clear of behaviors like gossiping, cursing or talking down to others? 

Who we spend our time with: Are the people you spend time with helping you grow closer to God? What kind of influence do they have on you? We all need a supportive group of peers who will keep us accountable, encourage us and walk with us in tough times. To read more about the importance of having and keeping good friends check out my post Why Choosing The Right Friends is Important.

What we consume on social media: More than ever it seems like we are conditioned to spend all of our waking hours looking at screens. It can be difficult to control every aspect of our social media feeds but we should be mindful of what we are taking in. If you are following, subscribed to or looking at content that God’s word would consider something that you should guard your heart from (or eyes, ears) then it’s a good idea not to engage with it. To learn more about filtering what we engage with on social media, read my post 3 Reasons to Consider a Social Media Audit.

Other aspects of life: this could include the way you dress, how you make financial decisions, where you choose to live, what career path you take, etc. Really anything that you can think of. Our lives should be led by our faith and by God’s word. 

Conclusion

By learning to filter life through faith, we can become more aware of how we are called to live as Christians. I don’t know about you, but I want to let the Lord into every aspect of my life and want to feel confident that the decisions that I make about my life are aligned with God’s word. I hope that you are encouraged to let God into all aspects of your life too. 

Closing Prayer

Lord, we thank you that you have given us your word to use as a manual for our lives. Help us to continually turn to your word to gain wisdom and guidance. Holy Spirit, urge us to have a hunger for deeper understanding of the bible and to come to the Lord in prayer always. Help us to filter life through our faith in Jesus Christ. I pray that you’d touch the heart of the woman who is reading this and bring her your perfect peace. Allow her to rest knowing that there is no problem too big for you to handle. Help her to cast her cares on you and give her the courage to live according to your word, especially when it’s hard to. In Jesus’ name, Amen!

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