The empty calories, such as worldly pleasures and distractions that offer temporary satisfaction to our flesh, ultimately leave us spiritually malnourished.
Matthew 5:6 speaks of hungering and thirsting for righteousness.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.”
This is cited specifically to emphasize the importance of seeking God’s Will and aligning one’s life with His Purpose.
It is obvious that dwelling on our past issues of life brings with it a type of starvation too.
What good does remembering, reliving, or focusing on past hurts, sins, and situations that we can absolutely do nothing about today?
It is a form of self-starvation like a person in prison who forces themselves to go on a hunger strike for various penal institution flaws they deem unfair or inhuman.
“Cruel and unusual punishment” was the term used in the Texas prison I was in during 1976.
Forced to work in a cotton field for eight hours a day in the hot September sun was cruel, but not unusual because Texas demanded we work, or we would not eat!
This saying about not working was part of the Boss Man and his speech given to me when I arrived on my first day in a Maximum-Security Unit of the Texas Department of Corrections. We were corrected daily by being bent over, picking cotton, and dragging that full sack of cotton along our sides.
All this “hunger striking” does is cause that person to die prematurely and this form of starvation accomplishes only one thing.
Starving to death.
I call it a type of intentional Anorexic and Bulimic spiritual suicide.
The difference between worldly desires (cravings) and the genuine need for feeding our souls is a fine line.
We live in this world, but we are truly not of this world.
If we know Jesus as our Savior and Lord, then this is the only way we can declare that we are NOT of this world. This planet is not our final resting place if we are born again.
A Heaven to gain, and a hell to avoid.
Again, our choice.
Our free-will choice given to us by God.
“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”
Mark 8:36
This pawning away of our life by neglecting our spiritual growth and health is like pawning a precious ring for a small loan.
Never intending to pay the fee and get it back.
We say we will only do this temporarily but find out later that the due date came and went.
We lost the ring and can never get it back.
Explain that to your spouse about where the diamond ring went.
Another form of starvation is trying to replace spiritual food with spiritual garbage.
We can’t exchange time with Jesus and His Word, by never reading our Bible.
We are losing spiritual weight and are looking gaunt in our spirits.
A skeletal example of a dying Christian.
Bones showing where bones should not show.
Symptoms of Spiritual Starvation:
A spiritually starving individual may experience a sense of emptiness, lack of purpose, and a general feeling of dissatisfaction.
Weakening of Faith:
Without regular spiritual nourishment, faith can weaken, making individuals more susceptible to doubt and temptation.
Indifference to Spiritual Matters:
A spiritually starved person may become indifferent to spiritual practices and the needs of others.
It is like selfishness on their weak spirits that become critical in the starvation of their souls. Their minds, intellect, and all their emotions are skewed and off kilter, leaving them lonely and in despair.
Forgetting temporarily that Jesus is there and He wants to feed them, so they do not perish.
Focus on worldly pleasures:
Instead of seeking fulfillment in God, some people may turn to worldly distractions and fleeting pleasures which scripturally means that, “We become an enemy of God.” James 4:4.
The answers are simple when it comes to avoiding this spiritual death.
Before I give you the answers, I will share with you how I came out of starvation into spiritual health.
I had to have another wake up call to stop dying.
I was far away from God and His will for my life, and it was apparent to me that what I was doing was not working.
In fact, I was dying and did not know I was.
The before- mentioned symptoms were evident, but I was so far gone I could not see with any spiritual vision.
I was in church, but was deaf, dumb, and blind to all I was seeing and hearing from the pulpit.
Closed off and living in sin, at least I was in church.
I was not in addiction, but my doubt and unbelief were my sins of choice.
No one could see my outward acts of sin, yet one look at my sad face, said it all.
A man’s countenance tells everything going on in his heart, to a degree.
Church did not save me and nurture me back to spiritual health, because I was not wanting to live for Jesus anymore.
Bummed out was an understatement for me in 1994.
Nothing worse than a depressed Christian.
This, in my opinion, is an oxymoron.
Like the deafening silence I lived in would not allow me to hear what the Spirit of God was saying to me.
I was no longer an open secret, but a wide-open target for the enemy of my soul, Satan.
I was in a living dead state in my spirit. I was alive physically, but dead inside spiritually.
Not only did all the above oxymorons exist, but one last one that I call, “Cruel to be kind.”
I was harsh, trying to be kind.
I never smiled and lived in my own self-inflicted pity party.
No cake with candles, or streamers and horns to toot.
I was a pathetic Christian living in the world that I created by being away from my Savior Jesus. I refused to answer my door to my apartment when people came to see me.
It was like this, “The only hope I had was no hope at all. By holding on to such a broken life, and all the pain of my past, I felt like, that if I let it go, I would have nothing. Something bad, to me, was better to hold on to than nothing at all.”
I left Oregon and drove South, headed to a job near the Grand Canyon.
I recorded my thoughts on a tape recorder as I drove all the way through Grants Pass and Medford in Oregon.
As I look back on those tapes that I sent to my future bride, it was a miracle she did not offer a pill from a doctor for my depression.
One of my thoughts on tape while on Interstate 5, going Southbound was, “I see the mountains off in the distance from the highway. They are tall and wide with snow on the peaks. The mountains of despair in my heart do not compare to the majestic beauty I see with my blue eyes. My eyes are red too; from all the tears I cry as I record my despair.”
YUK. I can’t believe I spoke that on a cassette tape and sent it to this happy, young, future bride.
I could have messed up my future completely.
Only by God and His Grace, did I survive this era.
He rescued me and gave me the hope I needed to stop starving to death.
I was so parched and defeated that it did take His intervention to rescue me again.
He is in the business of second chances.
The permanent cure for spiritual death is as follows:
Acceptance of a Savior:
Many religions, particularly Christianity, emphasize the role of a Savior Jesus in overcoming spiritual death.
This involves faith in the Lord and His Sacrifice for Mankind.
This is the Gift of Salvation.
Christianity is not a religion, after all. It is a relationship with the only Living God.
Jesus the Christ.
Repentance:
The turning away from our sin and rebellion against God, only works if we have a sorrowful heart and are sincere in our running away from this rebellion.
This crucial step begins with us consuming the food we need to live again, and the quicker we are to repent, the faster the food comes.
We get nurtured back to spiritual health every day we seek forgiveness and seek the joy of the Lord.
It will come once we stop living in the past of the guilt, shame, and condemnation that came in our sins.
Obedience to His Word:
This is not an option but a command.
“Be ye doers of the Word, not hearers only.”
Meaning, if you hear the Word of God being preached and apply what you heard, then the fruit of righteousness will be there.
It is more important to read the Word ourselves in our private devotional time.
Not just read to read. Digest and apply what we read daily.
You can’t live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.
His Word works.
If you do not discipline yourself to practicing fundamentals, then the starving process begins again in our neglect.
Prayer, reading the Bible, worship, attending church, and having friends who love Jesus are all the practical things we must practice.
Living in Love and Obedience:
Simply put: Love everyone and not just saying, “I love you,” but showing you love them by spending time and making an effort to develop a relationship with them.
Visiting prisoners in prisons, the needy, the nursing home residents, and beyond is a sacrifice of service.
Serve one another daily.
Find ways to help the helpless.
All the practical things spoken about today are not news to those who love Jesus.
If you are doing your best, then let the best of Jesus shine through you.
“For this son of mine who was once dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.”
Luke 15:24
The prodigal was not physically dead, but spiritually dying when, in wild living, he was far away from his father.
For him to become alive again shows he was not spiritually dead, but only dying. It was his act of repentance which brought the mouth-to-mouth resuscitation he needed by the Father breathing new life into his dying soul.
If you are still breathing air today there is heavy hope for you.
We are not “starving to death” if we will only wake up and eat of the bread of life.
Drink from the wells of Salvation and have your spiritual thirst quenched.
We are in a dry and weary desert when we are dying spiritually.
Jesus is the oasis amidst our dry land in our heart.
Look to Him, He is the Author and Finisher of your faith.
Even in the worst state of a dry desert, a flower will bloom with only one drop of rain. It only takes one drop of the Blood of Jesus to redeem you from your dying state in life.
You are a diamond in His eyes, and a song in His heart.
He will restore every facet of your dry, dull, and parched life if you will let Him.
You shall live and not die to the Glory of God.
“I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord.” Psalm 118:17.
Die to self and live for Jesus.
Live for Jesus and let the dead things be buried, once and for all.
Copyright © 2025 by Joe Wilkins
