Growing up, I remember hearing my mother repeat the saying “An apple a day keeps the doctor away” frequently in an attempt to convince my brother and me to eat more apples than junk food. This was easier to accomplish when we were younger and had to rely on mom’s grocery purchases to satisfy our snack cravings when we got home from school. As we grew older and were able to stop by the corner store on our way home from school, the basket of apples and bananas near the cash register paled in comparison to the racks of potato chips and bins of delectable donuts that were practically begging to be consumed.

While eating an apple every day doesn’t really prevent visits to the doctor, it is a well-known fact that a healthy diet includes the regular consumption of fruits and vegetables. A newsletter published by the School of Public Health at Harvard states that “a diet rich in  vegetables and fruits can lower blood pressure, reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke, prevent some types of cancer, lower risk of eye and digestive problems, and have a positive effect upon blood sugar, which can help keep appetite in check.” Is there anyone who wouldn’t want to see results like that the next time they had an appointment with their doctor?

When my brother and I were younger, we were tempted by the freedom to buy our own snacks after school, and frankly, the allure was in the advertising and packaging. You know, all the cool kids were eating dill pickle chips and raspberry jelly-filled donuts … and there were “images” of fruit on the candy package, so they had to be good, right? Well … when you’re a child, you reason like a child … except that as adults, we still rationalize like that to some degree.

In the fifth chapter of Galatians, the apostle Paul talks about spiritual cravings and sinful cravings in light of the freedom we have in Jesus. “For you have been called to live in freedom,” Paul says, “… but don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love” (Galatians 5:13). Much like the physical consequences from eating junk food, there are spiritual ramifications to giving in to our sinful cravings: “The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants” (Galatians 5:17a). Those consequences don’t just affect the individual either, they spread through the entire community: “sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties …” (Galatians 5:19-21a). We don’t have to look far to see what life is like when people give in to their sinful cravings.

Alternatively, when we seek out a healthy life — both physically and spiritually  — there are lasting benefits. By following the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we begin to see good results, much like what happens when we fill our physical diets with fruits and vegetables, our lives and communities will be influenced by the fruit of the Spirit: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). That outcome sounds (and feels) much better!

While the allure might be to consume the sweet and salty junk food that is staring us in the face at the corner store, the better choice, the healthy choice, is to bypass the chips and candy for the real thing  — the fruits and vegetables that ultimately cleanse our bodies and give us good health.

In our relationships with others and within our communities, it is, sadly, easier to succumb to spiritual junk food as well, which then creates an unhealthy environment where mutual respect and love are absent. Paul offers a warning: “… if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another” (Galatians 5:15). It seems pretty evident in Paul’s admonition that the goal of any relationship or community should be service above self, underlined by mutual love and respect for others.

Paul concludes this particular chapter in Galatians with the reminder that “those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives” (Galatians 5:24-25). So, while you may not heed the instruction to eat an apple a day, be sure to fill your lives with the fruit supplied by the Holy Spirit so that you are able to keep the indigestion caused by spiritual junk food away.

Anastasia Chubenko via Getty Images | This article was originally titled “An Apple A Day” in the September 2025 issue of The War Cry.