Be Careful What You Listen To

Be Careful What You Listen To

Avoid all perverse talk; stay away from corrupt speech. Proverbs 4:24

My youngest child, Luci, is a girl who always wants to be “in the know,” and it’s amazing what she can hear from a football field away. So I was surprised when during a conversation regarding who in our extended family does what, she seemed shocked when I told her my brother Mark manages a laboratory. Screwing up her face in a look that combined complete disgust with total shock, she exclaimed, “What? Uncle Mark manages a lavatory?”

Most of us have played the childhood game of Telephone, in which one person whispers a short sentence to the next person, and that person whispers it to the next person, and so on. Finally, the last person to hear the whispered message repeats what he’s heard, often to gales of laughter because the original message has become so garbled. A couple of years ago, someone organized 1,330 children to play the game. The original sentence was “Together we can make a world of difference.” After more than two hours and 1,330 repetitions, the sentence had morphed into “We’re going to break a world record. Haaaa!”

Considering how easy it is to misunderstand what others are saying, it’s amazing how much credibility we give to our ears. Even when there is no maliciousness involved, it’s easy for the truth to morph into falsehood. Now mix a little negative energy into the picture, as when people pass on the latest bit of gossip or speak ill of others, and the potential for mischief grows exponentially.

If we want to become people who experience God’s peace, we need to be careful not only to control our tongues but to control our ears, limiting the kinds of things we allow ourselves to hear. The next time you get together with friends or watch television or sit around in the lunchroom chatting, be careful what you listen to. If someone starts gossiping, see if you can find a graceful way to change the subject or make an exit. Do whatever you need to in order to guard your ears, because doing so will also guard your heart, keeping it from passing judgment on others.

Father, help me to resist the temptation of listening to gossip. Make me aware of how fallible my ears are so that I might use them to increase peace and not destroy it.