What’s Quietly Shaping Your Faith? | Ep. 132

What’s shaping your faith when you’re not paying attention? In this episode, we talk about how everyday inputs—what you watch, hear, and consume—can quietly form your thinking and desires. Anchored in 2 Timothy 4 and Galatians 5, we look at how distraction, distorted messages, and constant noise can pull you away from steady time in Scripture. If your focus feels scattered, this will help you reset your inputs and grow in discernment with clarity and intention.

👉 Listen to a related episode: Bible Reading vs Bible Study: What’s the Difference (and Why It Matters) | Ep. 127

Transcript

Welcome And Coffee Chat Invite

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This is episode 132, and I'm your host, Satoya, and this is Equip to Next, where you get equipped to lead, disciple, and move the mission forward. So, what is quietly shaping you? You don't want to miss this. If you are new, welcome. If you are returning, thank you so much. Listen, we have an upcoming coffee chat. Um, I probably shouldn't call it a coffee chat because it's in the evening. I don't know. Some people drink coffee in the evening, but whatever. And I'm opening it up to the public. Um, it's going to be later on this month. So it is May 2026 as I'm recording this. So if you're available, it's the it's going to usually be in the evening time. I don't know where you're calling from, but if you just want more information, feel free to send me an email at hello at equipthenext.com. Um, and I will gladly add you to our list, and then you'll you will be notified um if it is already past the date, the deadline or what past the date. You can still email me and send me information. Make sure you send me your name and the email that you want to get correspondence, and I will keep you in the loop for our next one. I typically do them every quarter. Um, but this one is gonna be really, I think all of them are good. So who am I? Who am I kidding? This one's gonna be good, but all of them are pretty good because we get to interact with one another. It's on Zoom. Um, so yeah, feel free to check that out. Anyway, today I wanted to talk about what is quietly shaping you. We're gonna go in some scripture, of course. Um, but that's a really good question. As we were talking about consistency um over intensity last week in episode 131, um I wanted to continue on because it's it's all about you know, just building the confidence to actually open the Bible and read. Because a lot of people just don't want to open the Bible up because they don't understand it. And, you know, it's you're for you're always gonna learn, you're always growing in the word, but don't let that stop you from opening it up and reading it. You'll be surprised what the Holy Spirit can do, right? And so when we're looking at what we're gonna be talking about today, it's it's always something that stands out to me. But I ask myself, what we currently say, what we repeatedly hear and tolerate quietly shapes our beliefs and desires. Believe it or not. I'm gonna repeat that. What we repeatedly hear and tolerate quietly shapes our beliefs and desires. I had shared this kind of thing with my son as I was explaining like how certain things you watch, you might not think it's really affecting you, but it seeps into your subconscious. I mean, you you don't you don't know that what you're watching or what you're listening to is feeding your subconscious mind. And then you know, you're you're wondering why you're doing certain things and you didn't know that you, you know, a habit you had developed, and you were like, where did that come from? Or um certain things you might say, you don't know that my man, where did I get that from? And it's usually because the things that we have allowed to come into our thoughts and filter through um our spirit and just bombard us in just everyday life. And so it's important to understand that what's feeding us is shaping us quietly. What's feeding us is shaping us. So ask yourself this question: what voices are influencing me more than I realize? Just take a pause. Nobody's watching, nobody's listening to your your response to that question. Maybe you want to even journal it. That's a good one. That this is a good journaling prompt, even. Um, but what voices are influencing me more than I realize? And be honest. Be honest. I'm gonna share a little piece of me um before we get into the text. But years ago, I had to really, this was before I started the ministry or anything. Um, I used to sing secular music um when I was young, like 20s. I'm talking about early 20s, teens, okay. Basically before I had gone to back to college. Um, so and I was an independent artist for a little while. And um, so when I got out of that, I still would listen to certain secular music. And let's be clear, I still listen to some secular music, but the secular music I listen to is like old school stuff, um, with discretion. I listened to um like smooth jazz, classical music, stuff like that. Okay, that's that's what I mean. But there were other stuff I listened to back then that was secular, that was like urban pop type stuff. And as I grew in the Lord, I I I wasn't convicted at first, you know what I'm saying? Because I only listened to it when I worked out. And I don't know. Something in me was like, I really don't want to listen to this anymore. And that was hard for me, coming from someone who loves music. That was a hard pull. But when I erase stuff out of my like phone feed or whatever, and like completely committed to I'm taking this stuff out, this stuff out, this stuff out, that was a shift. That was a shift, and again, this was before um the ministry, but that was a shift. Something in me was just like, I don't I just don't want to do that anymore. And even certain YouTube channels, even Christian-based ones, I had to make a decision and say, I don't want to listen to this anymore. Because it was kind of giving me, if I'm gonna just be transparent, it was kind of giving me church TMZ. Like I felt like I was watching stuff, and I still like to know what's going on in the church world, you know, like, okay, what's going on? But I found that I was more so listening to stuff just to kind of see, like, okay, what's going on, you know? And that just wasn't feeding me right. It wasn't healthy for me. It was grieving my spirit, and I had to repent and I had to change it up. So I don't see that. I'm gonna share a tip later on at the end of this episode. I'm gonna share how I did it, how you can um do this, how you can clean up shop and change what's feeding you. It's so important. Also, just who you're who are you around? Like if you're not around anyone who is talking about the word, I'm not saying like you sit down and you have church every day, but just holding you accountable, being able to have real conversations, even if they're uncomfortable, you're able to have it with people who understand and who are going to actually pray for you. That is very important. And some people might feel like they're alone and they don't have anyone to talk to. And that's another reason why I encourage people to sign up or just join a community. Because even if it's small or large or whatever it is, you need to be a part of a community of people that are not only holding you accountable, but are feeding you, that are pouring into you, that are challenging you and allowing you to grow in who God has called you to be. So let's get into the segues into um our text. I'm gonna, our main text is going to be in Galatians. You know where I'm going, but I'm also going to read this really quickly, and this is going to be in 2 Timothy 4, 3 and 4. Okay, it's very simple, it's very straightforward. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound doctrine, 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. So we see this now, even though this is this is a pastoral um letter, we can look at the application of this and we can say, Yeah, we we see this now. We see this now. Let's go on to Galatians 5 um seven. Uh yeah, I'll do seven through nine. It reads, You were running well, who hindered you from obeying the truth. This persuasion is not from him who called you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. So when we're looking at that word, especially uh persuasion, it's better rendered false rhetoric. So when we're looking at this, we see if I were to replace it, I would say this false rhetoric is not from him who calls you. Now, just a little backstory of Galatians, and feel free to go to episode what episode? Yeah, episode 79 of this podcast. Um, it's going to probably be under my old the old um ministry name because we were we used to be called Woman 31, and we changed it to equip the next, but it's the same stuff. Um, so go to episode 79, and that's the start of a series of episodes um outlining or surveying the book of Galatians if you just want to know more about Galatians, okay? I'm not gonna give you an exhaustive one here, but um, for anyone that is interested, I thought I would bring that up. But in a nutshell, there were these people called Judaizers, and they were basically teaching that you they these people in Galatia, you know, you had to um participate in the law as well, if or you're not gonna be, or you're not Christian. You have to do both. You have to do all the the you have to do the law, and you in and and you gotta do this. They were they were really enforcing the law, and so that's why we see Paul, first of all, this is a harsh letter. This is where he says, Oh, you foolish Galatians, he's he's hurt. Okay, he's like, Are you kidding me? But also he makes comparisons in here. Where did he go? Where can I point you to? Give me a second. As he looks at Hagar, yeah, and chapter four. When we look at Hagar and Sarah, because he's he's he's doing that, he's comparing, contrasting um, the law versus being free. Um, but again, feel free to check out that podcast, the series. Like I said, it starts in episode 79. But what we see here, let's go back, because this is what's feeding you, and the reason why I wanted to talk about the Judaizers is because they were feeding the people in Galatia, they were feeding them false information. They were also kind of taking jabs at Paul, too. It's a really good letter. I encourage you to read it, but they were planting faulty seed into these people. Okay, these people were listening to false um doctrine, even though Paul had already taught them the truth. And so this is why you know you can you can go to church and you can fellowship and you can do all of that stuff, and then you can listen, listen, okay, sidebar. Let's say you go to a local church. Okay, you go to your local church, you go there maybe once, maybe twice a week, okay, give or take. Let's say you're just regular smagular, so you're not really involved in anything. You just like, you know, you go, you might fellowship, but you know what I'm saying, you're not like a deacon, a deaconess, or you know, you're not doing anything major. And maybe you're you are. That just means you're more busy. But in case, let's say you go maybe once, twice a week on average. Um, nine times out of ten, you are consuming way more non-churchy stuff than churchy stuff. Nine times out of ten. You're probably on social media way more than you're in church on average. I'm not saying everybody's like this, but I'm saying like the majority of people probably spend more time on social media and then just in secular stuff in general than they are in like church or fellowshipping or reading the word or you know, fellowship, you know, all that kind of stuff. So just imagine then, like if you go, let's say you go to church on a Sunday or Saturday or whatever, and then by Monday morning, you probably forgot half the stuff you learned. Right? And so whatever is feeding you from Monday through Friday, you might go to Bible study, but usually Bible studies are small because they're not popular. People don't usually go to Bible studies, even though those are that's where you get the meat. But most people don't do that. So let's just say Monday through Friday, you are consuming all kinds of stuff, what's feeding you and pouring into you silently. And so even though you go to church, when I'm saying you, I'm talking just in general, even though someone goes to church every week or whatever the case may be, they can still not understand scripture. They can still be lost, they can still be intimidated by opening of the word, and they can still lack consistency because it's what's feeding them that's shaping their course. And it's a quiet feed. It's a little here, a little there, right? Let me see, let me go back. You know, um a little leaven, little bit spoils everything. Because again, you don't know that it's changing your course silently. Like you don't know that. We've all been there. I just, you know, shared a little bit about me. Like we've all been there. I've I've doom scrolled before, I've endlessly scrolled before. We've all been there. And I mean, the Holy Spirit will convict me, and I would still be like, I would fight it. But like, no, I gotta see the rest. And it would grieve this Holy Spirit. I had to come, I had to repent because it's uh you're just endlessly, just endlessly scrolling. It happens to everyone. I'm here to shake you. No, but for real, I'm here to tell you, like, listen, it happens, but now that you've recognized it, now you can change. You don't have to be bound by that. We can kind of recalibrate, if you will, so that we are consistent in the word. It listen, times are happening now. I don't know where you are in the world, but it really doesn't matter. Everything is crazy, everything is bad, everything is wonky. We need each other, we need to be solid. It's not going to be perfect. We're going to be persecuted. People are already persecuted all over the world. So we need consistency more than ever. So, what is shaping you quietly? That's the key. See, people often gather voices that suit their desires. That's an ouch, but it's a reality. They often gather voices that suit their desires. What you find interesting, that's the thing you're gonna listen to. That's just a no-brainer. If I go on my phone right now on YouTube and I scroll, I'm going on here right now. This is live. Okay, let me see what's on here on YouTube. Um, I see a lot of food stuff because I love to food prep and I love like eating healthy or semi-healthy. So there's all these types of rest recipes. I also love stationery, so I got tons of plan with me. Um, yeah, weight loss, all kinds of stuff. Working out, food. I got a couple teachings too. I have um some some other stuff, of course, biblical like Bible study with me, stuff like that. That's what I mainly have. So I challenge you to even look at your look at look at your if you watch YouTube or um if you're on any other social media platform or whatever, YouTube isn't really social media, but you know, on any kind of platform, um, just go and scroll and see what you see on your news feeds because that's usually what interests you. That's this how the algorithm works. So we usually gather voices that suit our desires. You also have to understand that small influences create long-term shaping, very small influences. They create long-term shaping in our minds and our habits. And it's important to discern and understand that not every appealing voice is healthy. It may sound good, we may have itching ears, it may be like, yeah, we're gonna get, but it doesn't mean that it's healthy. Even if it's quote unquote faith-based, I have open air quotes because not everything is really rooted in in Christ. You know, and so the more you're in scripture, the more you're consistent in his word, the more it helps you expose hidden drifts. The louder the Holy Spirit will be in you, the louder he will be. You might ignore him, but he's loud. And he's gonna be like, Don't listen to that. Turn it off, turn it away. That's enough. I've even, for me, myself, I don't don't doom scroll anymore, but I used to like have a habit of just grabbing my phone because I felt like I would miss something. Like, did somebody text me? Did I miss an email? So now I put my phone away somewhere. That has helped me tremendously. Do I have my days where I still want to say somebody text me? Yes. But I've learned to combat that. And as we look at the Christ thread, you understand you have to understand that Christ is truth, freedom, and sound doctrine. Don't let the quiet voices that are not helping you bind you. Don't let them put you in bondage. Don't be a slave to that. Be free in the Lord. Listen, I said I was gonna share with you um a tip that helped me, and that tip was to reset your algorithm if you need to. So again, if you go and you just look at your um your whatever like whatever social media platforms you you are on, I'm not on a lot too much, but whatever social media platforms you're on a lot, I do watch YouTube a little bit though. Um, what I would do is just like look through. your out look through your news feeds and stuff like look and see what you're normally like what you see. Usually they've already kind of set the algorithm. You can reset your algorithm. Just looking you know things that you don't longer you no longer want to see. Just put you're not interested in it. Maybe reset what you're looking at. Hide things that don't interest you. Especially on YouTube. It's real easy on YouTube. You just got to watch a bunch of videos of things that are interesting for you and are going to grow you. That's what I would encourage you to do is find things that are going to grow you, challenge you, um pour into you. Even if it's fun and entertaining like I'm not saying I'm watching Bible studies all the time on YouTube. But like I said stationary I love playing with me's um and then like different food um videos and stuff like that. I also love the bait like watching babies they make me laugh and they're so cute. And I love looking at animals. You know stuff like that. And like whatever just brings you joy um just reset it. Watch those things and you'll see your algorithm kind of just shift to showing that and then you know even channels and I'm going back to YouTube channels that don't really interest you anymore you know ask the Lord should you still be a subscriber to that or not? I mean now I'm not saying go through your list because I got a list of people that I subscribe to and it's a lot I'm not going to go through every one. But for the most recent ones I did say you know what does this podcast or this YouTuber really feed me or am I on a different path? And do I need to change because maybe they're just all about fear baiting or whatever it is and I just made a decision from there on what to do. But those are things that you can do to kind of change the algorithm if you will I also want to challenge you to audit what is shaping your mind this week. And that tip can definitely help in that audit it what is shaping you what are you watching what are you listening to um who are you around just do it audit I'm not saying give anything up the Holy Spirit will lead you on what to do or what to minimize but just be conscious and look at what you are consuming. If it is more um on things that aren't feeding you aren't growing you um aren't pointing you to Christ or aren't um nourishing you but are instead pointing fear planting doubt worry um anxiety if it's more on that then you might want to assess what you're listening to watching or that kind of thing but just do an audit okay love you well that's it for today thanks for listening to the Equit the Next podcast if this episode blessed you I'd appreciate it if you leave a review and share it with someone who can use a little encouragement. Now grow in God's word and lead boldly