Deuteronomy 14:1–5 • Mark 7:14–23 (this was our youth Bible study tonight)
Main Idea: What we allow into our minds and hearts matters, not because following rules earns God’s love, but because we belong to Christ and want to grow closer to Him.
Goal: Help students evaluate the influences in their lives and understand that holiness is about their relationship with Jesus, not simply following a list of rules.
1. Opening Discussion: What’s on the Menu?
Start by asking the students: “How many of you like bacon? What about shrimp? Crab legs? Cheeseburgers?”
Then ask: “What would you think if I told you that God once gave His people a list of foods they were not allowed to eat?”
Allow a few responses.
Explain: When we read Deuteronomy 14, we discover that God gave the Israelites very specific instructions about what they could and couldn’t eat. Certain animals were considered clean, while others were unclean. Pork and shellfish were off the menu!
Read Deuteronomy 14:1–5.
Notice something important in verse 2. God tells Israel that they are a people holy to Him, chosen to be His treasured possession. That’s the context for the instructions that follow.
God was teaching Israel that belonging to Him should make a difference in how they lived—even in ordinary things like eating dinner.
But does that mean Christians shouldn’t eat bacon today? Thankfully, no!
2. Jesus Changes the Conversation
Read Mark 7:14–23.
Jesus explains that food entering someone’s body isn’t what makes that person morally unclean. In verse 19, Mark explains that Jesus declared all foods clean.
But Jesus takes the conversation somewhere much more important.
Read Mark 7:20–23 again.
Jesus explains that sinful thoughts, desires, and actions come from the human heart.
Ask the students: “Why do you think Jesus was more concerned about what was happening in people’s hearts than what was going into their stomachs?”
Allow some discussion.
Explain: The Israelites had dietary restrictions that helped distinguish them from the nations around them and reminded them that they belonged to God. Those particular food restrictions are not binding on Christians under the new covenant.
But God’s concern for holiness hasn’t disappeared.
Jesus teaches us that our greatest problem isn’t the food we eat. It’s the sin that comes from within us.
Here’s the important point: God isn’t just interested in what we do on the outside. He cares about what’s happening on the inside.
And that brings us to a question that applies to every one of us.
3. What Are You Feeding Your Mind?
Ask: “Think about everything you’ve watched, listened to, or scrolled through during the last 24 hours. How much of it do you think has influenced the way you think?”
Let students answer.
Explain: Every day, we’re taking things into our minds. We watch videos, listen to music, scroll through TikTok, play games, watch movies, and spend time talking with friends.
Not everything we encounter is sinful. Entertainment isn’t automatically bad, and Christians don’t have to avoid everything that isn’t specifically religious.
But we need to recognize that the things we repeatedly give our attention to can influence our thoughts, attitudes, and desires.
Read Philippians 4:8.
Paul encourages believers to think about things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, and commendable.
Ask these questions and allow brief discussion:
- “Can something be entertaining but still be a bad influence on you?”
- “Have you ever noticed your attitude changing because of something you’ve been watching or listening to?”
- “How can you tell when something is beginning to pull your attention or your heart away from God?”
Explain: Sometimes the problem isn’t even something obviously sinful. It might simply be something that consumes so much of our attention that we begin neglecting our relationship with God.
For example, playing video games isn’t necessarily wrong. But if we can spend four hours gaming and never find a few minutes to pray or read Scripture, perhaps we need to examine our priorities.
The same could be said about social media, sports, entertainment, or practically anything else.
The question isn’t simply, “Am I allowed to do this?” A better question is, “What is this doing to my heart?”
4. What’s Coming Out?
Now return to Mark 7:20–23.
Explain: Jesus says that what comes out of a person reveals the condition of the heart.
Think about that for a moment. We can spend a lot of time worrying about the things we’re taking in, but Jesus wants us to examine what’s coming out of our lives as well.
Ask: “What are some things that might come out of our lives that reveal something isn’t right in our hearts?”
Help students consider examples such as gossip, dishonesty, cruel jokes, jealousy, disrespect, anger, or the way we treat people online.
Read Luke 6:45.
Jesus teaches that what comes out of our mouths reveals what fills our hearts.
Here’s an example: Suppose someone spends a lot of time watching videos where people constantly insult, mock, or humiliate others. Eventually, they begin treating people the same way.
The videos didn’t create the sin in their heart, but they may have encouraged attitudes that were already there.
Ask: “Have you ever caught yourself saying something or acting in a way that made you stop and think, ‘Where did that come from?’”
Explain: Our words and actions can reveal things about our hearts that we haven’t recognized or dealt with.
That’s why we need Jesus to do more than help us change our behavior. We need Him to change our hearts.
5. Holiness Isn’t About Earning God’s Love
Read Ephesians 2:8–10.
Explain: This may be the most important thing we discuss today. Sometimes Christians make holiness sound like a giant list of rules…
Don’t watch this. Don’t listen to that. Don’t say those words. Don’t hang around those people.
But following a list of rules cannot save us. We are saved by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
Notice the order in Ephesians 2. We aren’t saved by good works. We’re saved for good works.
We don’t pursue holiness to make God love us. We pursue holiness because He has already loved us and saved us through Christ.
Think about someone you really enjoy spending time with. You don’t want anything to damage that relationship. You make choices because the relationship matters to you.
Our relationship with Jesus should matter more than anything else.
Sin doesn’t mean that every time we fail, God stops loving us. But sin can disrupt our fellowship with Him, weaken our spiritual growth, and keep us from enjoying the closeness with Him that we should desire.
Ask: “What’s the difference between avoiding something because you’re afraid of getting caught and avoiding it because you love Jesus?”
Give students an opportunity to answer.
Holiness isn’t just about what we stay away from. It’s about the One we’re drawing closer to.
6. Closing Challenge and Prayer
Challenge the students: This week, I want you to think about one thing you’re regularly allowing into your mind. It might be a social media account, a show, a song, a game, or even a conversation you regularly participate in.
Ask yourself three questions:
- Is this helping me become more like Jesus?
- Is this encouraging attitudes or desires that don’t honor God?
- Is this drawing me closer to Christ or pulling my attention away from Him?
You may discover that something needs to change. Or perhaps you simply need to make more room in your life for the things that help you grow spiritually.
Remember, we’re not trying to earn God’s love. We want to live holy lives because we already belong to Him.
Closing Prayer
Father, thank You for loving us and saving us through Jesus Christ. Help us understand that following rules cannot earn our salvation, but that the choices we make still matter. Give us wisdom about the things we watch, listen to, and allow to influence our hearts. Show us the attitudes, desires, and behaviors that don’t honor You. Help us to love You more than the things of this world and to desire a closer relationship with You. Change our hearts so that our words and actions reflect Your love. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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