I used to think devotion was a grand, dramatic act. You know, the kind that comes with soaring worship songs and those moments when you swear heaven is breathing right beside you. But lately I have been learning something quieter and harder. Devotion does not begin with emotion or inspiration. It begins with attention.
Where your gaze goes, your heart eventually follows. And where your attention lingers, devotion grows roots. Proverbs reminds us that when we “incline our ear to wisdom” we gain understanding (Proverbs 2:2). That means the direction of your ear and the direction of your life are far more connected than we like to admit.
Which brings me to the dark, modern twist on all this. Doomscrolling. Because nothing hijacks attention faster than a glowing screen promising bad news by the minute.
Let’s talk about how attention forms devotion, how doomscrolling forms the wrong kind of devotion, and how we reclaim our gaze before it shapes us into someone we never intended to become.
Why Attention Shapes Devotion
Attention is not passive. It is a form of choosing. Jesus said that where our treasure is, our hearts follow (Matthew 6:21). We often think treasure means money, but treasure is anything you keep returning to with focus, desire, or habit.
Once you consistently give something your attention, you start giving it emotional space. Then mental space. Then spiritual space. This is why C. JoyBell C. once wrote, “The dance between awareness and attention is where your life takes shape.” Whether you want it to or not, your attention is shaping something inside you every day.
When your attention goes toward God, toward healing, toward purpose, devotion begins to rise almost on its own. When your attention goes toward chaos, comparison, or fear, a different kind of devotion forms. A draining one. A devotion that steals more than it gives.
Doomscrolling and Devotion Gone Wrong
Doomscrolling is the shadow version of devotion. It is loyalty without love, habit without intention, and fixation without peace. It is the unplanned devotion you never meant to give away.
We tell ourselves we are “just staying informed.” But attention is devotional. What you look at repeatedly will start to live inside you. Philippians reminds us to think on whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8). Doomscrolling is the opposite of that. It fixes the mind on what is urgent, upsetting, or unsettling. Over time, it tilts your emotions and rewires your nervous system until your inner world feels like the headlines you cannot stop reading.
Author Anne Wilson Schaef once said, “We become what we habitually turn toward.” Most of us do not realize that doomscrolling is a form of turning toward something that cannot nourish us. And like any misplaced devotion, it leaves the soul starved.
The good news is this. Devotion can be redirected. Attention can be reclaimed. Your heart can learn a healthier rhythm again.
Soul Insights
1. Attention always reveals what your heart is leaning toward.
Even if you do not say it out loud, the things you repeatedly look at become the quiet confessions of your inner world. If you want to understand what you truly value, study the direction of your attention. This is why Jesus often said, “Come and see.” He knew that seeing leads to seeking. Your heart is always following your gaze.
2. Doomscrolling is a false form of vigilance.
It gives the illusion of control, as if knowing every negative update can protect you. In reality it keeps the nervous system in a loop of hyper-alertness. Over time it becomes a devotion to fear disguised as awareness. What you feed with attention will grow, even if it is something you never wanted.
3. Your attention is your most powerful spiritual resource.
People think prayer begins with words, but it often begins with focus. When you give God your attention, even briefly, you are already entering devotion. Devotion starts with looking. With choosing. With turning your face toward something that brings life instead of draining it.
4. Attention creates patterns inside you.
Repeated focus shapes the grooves of your thinking. It colors your emotional tone. It influences what you expect from the world and from yourself. If you continually focus on negativity, you unconsciously prepare for more of it. If you focus on truth, love, and wisdom, you pave a path for peace to find you faster.
5. You can reclaim your attention one small choice at a time.
You do not need a spiritual overhaul to reset your devotion. Begin with one simple turn. One redirected thought. One decision to look away from what drains you and toward what strengthens you. As John O’Donohue wrote, “Your eyes are the windows of your soul’s hunger for meaning.” Feed that hunger with intention, not impulse.
Final Thoughts
Your attention is holy ground. Not because it is perfect, but because whatever lives there will eventually live in you. When attention becomes scattered, devotion weakens. When attention becomes intentional, devotion rises with clarity.
Life will always offer you something to look at that does not deserve your heart. Doomscrolling just happens to be the modern version of spiritual theft. But you can choose again. You can turn your gaze toward what builds, steadies, uplifts, restores, and reconnects you to God.
You do not have to fight for devotion. You only have to choose your attention, again and again, until your heart learns where home is.
Your Turn
What has been getting most of your attention lately?
Is it something you want to be devoted to?
What would it look like to give your focus to what actually nourishes your spirit?
Share your thoughts in the comments. Someone else might need your insight.
By the way…
If you feel led, you’re welcome to explore my book 17 Syllables of Me and my website, SoulPath Insights.
Thank you for taking the time to read! 🤗
© 2025 Amelie Chambord
Soul Path Insights 
Leave a comment