Selective Hearing

Also do not take to heart everything people say, Lest you hear your servant cursing you.

Ecclesiastes 7:21 (NKJV)

     A little selective hearing at times is just what is needed. We can be so careless in the words we speak. What horror would strike us if folks could hear everything we say and took it seriously. We might suffer a great many troubled relationships.

      There is wisdom in silence, and strength is displayed by ignoring many of the foolish and meaningless things that people utter in this world. “The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger, And his glory is to overlook a transgression.” Proverbs 19:11

      Better yet, why not be slower to speak at all. So much trouble is ignited by loose talk. A bit more thought before we launch our tongues would cost very little and benefit both us and our hearers.

The Antidote of Prayer

Prayer is the antidote for the disease of self-confidence, 

which opposes God’s goal of getting glory by working for those who wait for Him.

John Piper

Making God known in our spheres of influence should be the goal of every child of God. When our purpose is to merely survive or to self-actualize our earthly existence we reveal an almost total lack of understanding of His character or nature. Giving God glory is good.

Prayer, which necessitates bowing and acknowledging our inability to meet our every need, is a remedy. We are a needy people, and acknowledging our utter dependence upon Him for our daily bread, breath and well-being is the essence of spiritual maturity.

Patience is crucial in this equation, because it requires that we relinquish control to the one who makes it all happen.