[post_When Trials Come][post_Critics][post

“There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword: but the tongue of the wise is health.” (Pro. 12:18)

An elderly woman was experiencing hearing difficulties. Her children wanted her to get a hearing aid. This mother plainly told her children, “I don’t want a hearing aid.” They responded, “But Mom, it will help you hear better.” The mother said, “I’ve heard enough!” When it comes to negative, critical speech—we’ve all heard enough.

Your words are the diets of other men’s minds and emotions. “The lips of the righteous feed many: but fools die for want of wisdom” (Pro 10:21). People are feeding on your words. In like manner, the words you hear from others are nurturing your soul. You need a diet of healthy, life-giving words.

Like the eye-gate, your ears are a port-of-entry into your heart. The words you hear affect you more than you realize. “The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly” (Pro. 26:22). Tale bearing, or gossip, penetrates the inmost part of your being. Recall the times when you received a negative report about someone. Do you remember how those words caused you to have bad thoughts about that person? Regardless of whether the report was true or false, it affected your feelings about that individual.

God has assigned YOU as the gatekeeper regarding your audio input. You cannot control all the words you hear, but you can determine the conversations you choose to participate in.

Safeguards for Your Ears

Never Underestimate the Power of Words. A word is the crystallization of a thought. Words represent desires, facts, or concepts. Words are POWERFUL! God used the spoken word to create the universe.
- Joseph’s brothers wanted to kill him. But Judah made a verbal appeal to his brothers that saved Joseph’s life. “And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood? Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brethren were content” (Gen. 37:26-27). They sold him into slavery, but at least he was not dead. Words spared his life.
- Men rose up and shouted “Crucify him, crucify him” (Luke 23:21). Those words agitated the crowd and an innocent Man was crucified.
- Peter preached on the day of Pentecost and 3,000 were converted through his empowered words!
Select Friends That Edify. You have the prerogative to choose your friends. There comes a time when you may need to separate from toxic relationships. If you are unable to help your friends find victory over their negative, critical, derogatory, inflammatory speech, then you need to walk away from them and find new ones. You cannot listen to an ongoing barrage of verbal sewage without being corrupted. By the way, there are more verses in the New Testament about separating from erring believers than unbelievers. Of course, we MUST be forbearing and long-suffering with fallible men like ourselves, but the perennial critic must be rejected. “A man that is an heretic after the first and second admonition reject” (Titus 3:10). The word “heretic” means divisive or schismatic. Scripture is clear, have nothing to do with the person who keeps stirring division.
Choose Music That Builds You Up. What you hear has a huge bearing on how you feel. The things you listen to will impact your emotions. Spirit-filled people have a song in their heart. “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Eph. 5:19). Invest in godly music that ministers to your heart. God has given us three things to restore our souls: friends, nature, and music. It is not enough to silence the criticisms, you need positive input, and music will edify.

Let’s pray together:

“Lord, thank you for the privilege of hearing. Holy Spirit, make me sensitive to your voice regarding the things I choose to listen to. Put a watch on my lips and a lock on my ears when it comes to wrong conversations. Amen.”