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PROGRAM D-8387
No doubt some of you are old enough to remember that little song we sang in Sunday school, “O, be careful little ears what you hear, O, be careful little ears what you hear. For the Father up above is looking down in love, so be careful little ears what you hear.”
Then there are the three monkeys: Hear no evil, See no evil, and Speak no evil. They illustrate this same truth which I’m currently examining, which I call ear garbage, eye garbage, and heart garbage. Thus, this is not a new idea—that we need to be very careful what we hear and see.
Let’s think first about ear garbage. Are you allowing garbage into your ears? This can take several forms. It can be the garbage of gossip—this ear garbage that has been around since the beginning of time!. Who could tell how much harm has been done through gossip?! It may be juicy and you may try to justify it by calling it a “prayer request” or thinking of it as something else, but the truth is that when we listen to gossip about others—stuff we really don’t need to know even if it is true—then we are taking in ear garbage.
Proverbs 18:8 says, “The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to the inmost parts.” In other words, they go down deep inside and they are like poison which causes all kinds of problems. Another proverb says that gossip separates close friends (Proverbs 16:28), and I wonder how many friendships have been ruined or damaged by careless gossip. It is really ear garbage in its worse form.
Who do you listen to for wisdom and advice? Psalm 1:1 says that the person who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly is blessed. Ungodly counsel can come through professionals, relatives, friends, books, fortune tellers—lots of places and people—but if it does not agree with the principles of God’s Word, it is ear garbage.
Do you listen to garbage music or entertain garbage off-color conversations? If you think those ungodly lyrics won’t affect you because you are a Christian, think again. Are you too intimidated to walk away from an unsuitable conversation or to let your voice be heard?
Ear garbage is all around us—sadly sometimes even in Christian circles. We need to start paying attention to what we let into our ears because that has a strong impact on who we are. “O, be careful little ears what you hear!”