When I was younger, like most children, loved to eat anything sugary: candy, sugary cereals, ice cream, cake. All those wonderful joys that send your taste buds into overdrive! The holidays were about the cookies and pies, not the turkey and stuffing! We know that these sugary delights only create a stronger drive for more sugar. In many cases, people can be fully addicted to sugar! Ever try quitting sugar? You will find out quickly if you are addicted to it! Today, while desserts are still an occasional treat, I have become wiser about what I am putting in my body to try to strengthen it and remain healthy. The less sugar I eat, the less desire I have for it. And conversely, the more I have turned to healthy items like roasted vegetables, lean proteins, and even squash - the more my body craves them! It is an interesting concept that our taste buds mature over time. While we are children, they are driven to the sugars and sweets, and over time and with effort we can mature our taste buds to enjoy things that we would turn our noses up at as children. Just like our bodies mature, our taste buds mature. In the same way, our spiritual lives should see this same shift.
As kids, we lack the maturity to know what is going to truly nourish us. We seek immediate gratification, a sugar rush and immediate sweetness on our tongue!. In the same way, when we are walking according to the flesh, we have a taste for the things of this world. Pride, self-gratification, worldly approval, temporary pleasures, and self-reliance are enticing, while spiritual disciplines look stuffy, dull, and restricting. 1 Corinthians 13:11 states, “ When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.” Ever meet an adult that still eats like a child? It seems silly, almost out of place. In the same way, a believer who does not desire the things of God, nor seeks to spend time with Him, seems out of place.
Paul regarded the Corinthians in this same way. 1 Corinthians 3:1–2, “Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. “
So as believers, how do we cultivate new, acquired taste buds for the things of Christ? Maturing does not happen overnight. A new “acquired taste” takes exposure and repetition. Eventually, those new foods become satisfying, and the artificial sugars become overly sweet, even sickeningly so. We cannot manufacture this change purely by willpower. Transformation happens as we abide in God's presence, meditate on Scripture, and spend time in prayer. It is the Holy Spirit who recalibrates our heart's affections. He doesn’t merely tell us to stop sinning; He replaces counterfeit cravings with authentic life. In Ezekiel, God tells the people, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. (Ezekiel 36:26–27)
God’s promise to his disobedient people was not “try harder”. It was a promise that He would give us a new heart, remove our heart of stone, and place His Spirit within us to move us toward His ways.
Galatians 5:16–17: “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”
As our spiritual palate sharpens, what once seemed harmless or enticing begins to leave a bitter aftertaste—compromise, gossip, envy, and worldly patterns feel heavy and dry rather than fulfilling. We begin to develop a real distaste for sin. It can only develop as we seek the Lord and abide with Him. And when we do so, we begin to hunger for real deep substance. Deep study of God's Word, sacrificial love, quiet communion with Jesus, and fellowship—things that might once have felt demanding—become genuine sources of joy, peace, and spiritual vitality. Scripture promises that these things are what bring us true joy!
Psalm 34:8: "Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him."
Psalm 119:103: “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!”
Romans 12:2: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing, and perfect will.”
What are you feeding your soul this week? Are you running on spiritual junk food or sitting down to feast on God’s Word? Changing our palate takes time. We may stumble and feel drawn into old habits. Remember that the Holy Spirit is “faithful to continue the good work that He began in you!” (Philippians 1:6). Ask the Holy Spirit to give you a fresh appetite for Christ, and for what pleases Him, and a distaste for the things of the world. And then rest in the promise that “those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled” (Matthew 5:6)