Click to listen to an audio version.
Are you ear-born?

Listening is everything to your spirit
One of the topics that I discuss in my book is Proverbial Wisdom. It is one of the repeated themes in the book. One of the lessons that I speak about comes from my maternal grandmother. Her sayings were tied to life, like many wise women of her times. So today, I want to share her expression, “Don’t let your ear be a trash can for others.”
Whether you are spiritual or not, this is a relevant proverb. Why? “Garbage in, garbage out.”
Physically, the ear is a magnificent organ. It has outer and inner parts. It is subject to disease. It can be infected. The result could be hearing loss and body imbalance. You may have experienced such an imbalance– perhaps, the doctor has relayed that your equilibrium is off. This means that the pathways to your inner ear are obscured or affected. In this case, a prescription usually resolves the issue. Many of these conditions may damage the brain if not taken care of and nurtured.
This can also be true when it comes to emotionally, psychological, and spiritual effects if you do not protect your EAR. This is what my grandmother was trying to teach us as youngsters growing into adulthood.
This is why we say listening is everything. If you choose to listen to bad actors as your guide, this could cause severe damage to your psyche – your spirit.
The outer ear is the first attack of the enemy. The enemy’s job is to get you to hear him. The physical ear is a visible component and can be adorned with beautiful objects to make it attractive and noticeable. However, you cannot look at the outer ear and determine if one can hear you. In contrast to the outer ear, the inner ear contains structures that are key to your senses. This is essentially important because that is where the hearing takes place.
The inner ear contains muscles and nerves operating to protect the application of pressure placed on the ear itself.
Thus, the question becomes, “What type of protection do you have in place to safeguard or prevent unsafe organisms from entering the inner ear?” An unprotected ear will degenerate. This is so no matter the type of species (frogs, dogs, humans, etc.). A diseased ear limits your wellness, both physically and spiritually.
Why did Grandmother put us to the test with this saying? Imagine the wife who knows that her husband is unfaithful; she is distraught by the mere factor that others in the community know this he cheats on her. What might add to her pain, is the one who wants to bring the gossip directly to this woman. The gossiper understands that the woman will listen to the trash. She brings that bone to her over and over. The woman becomes infected with the diseased bone bought to her time and time again. She cannot recover from her pain because of this gossiping woman.
Now imagine there is another woman who lives in the same community as these two women. However, the gossiper knows that she cannot take her garbage to that person for this woman would chew her out. Although the gossip may be true, this woman refuses to listen and take in the venom for it does not help her spirit. Instead, this woman decides that God is her Truth. She will seek him for restoration and judgment.
The modern-day movie “WAR ROOM” War Room Official Trailer (2015) Drama Movie – YouTube is an example of fighting as a servant leader.
Protecting your ear is essential. God expresses the importance of hearing for healing the spirit. Those who know Him hear and obey His voice. The ability to hear instruction, sound instruction, from Him transcends in every area of our lives. Turning a deaf ear to garbage can be healthy; turning your ear to hear the instruction of the Lord is food for the spirit; it produces good results. Hear Him in your spirit. Do not be confused by the noise of the enemy. Ask God to heal your ear.
1 Samuel 3: 9 (NIV), “Speak, Lord; for thy servant is listening.”
In the days of Eli the word of the Lord was precious, and there was no open vision. It was well when the word did come, that one chosen individual had the hearing ear to receive it, and the obedient heart to perform it (The Rev. C. H. Spurgeon).
#servantleadership #wellness
You must be logged in to post a comment.