Be Careful Little Ears What You Hear

Hello and welcome to Social Media Ministries. My name is Spencer Coffman. Thank you so much for tuning in. Today we’ve got a great message for you. It’s a sequel of last week’s message called “Be Careful Little Eyes.”

So you can check that message out in a card up here on our YouTube channel, or go to our website. Type in “Be Careful” or “Little Eyes” or something like that, and you can watch that sermon.

So today we are talking about the ears. Be Careful Little Ears.” It comes from that Sunday school song “Be Careful Little Eyes What You See.” If you remember that, either as a kid or from your children, be careful, little eyes, what you see, you know.

And then it keeps going on because the father up above is looking down with love. So be careful. So now we’re on the ears. Be careful, little ears, what you hear, and you need to be careful what your ears are hearing.

Hopefully, you’re watching or listening to this sermon. If you’re doing so, please consider hitting that share button so that you can share with others, so other people can listen as well, because the content that you put in through your ears is very important to shaping your character and your behavior. Hopefully, you know this to be true.

Your eyes and ears help you become the person you are being. Now I don’t mean like physically by how they look. I mean, like, what you consume. You say, “Yeah, I do. I, I, I read my goal is to read one self-improvement book every month.” And then what is that doing? That’s coming in through your eyes. It’s going into your mind and it’s going into your heart and changing your behavior. You are choosing to act that way because of the content you are consuming.

You are listening to TED talks or you are listening to sermons every day. That content, that’s coming in through your ears is, is going into your mind. You’re thinking about it, and then it’s going into your heart, and then you are — it’s going into your actions, and you are doing the content that you hear. And so yes, this is a little Sunday school song for children, but the message behind it is so important, and you need to realize this.

This concept is more important than you realize because the things that you hear will soon become the things you say and do. If you have children, you might have an experience of all of a sudden, your child says a bad word. What?

Where did you hear that? Oh, from so-and-so right there. They heard the word. They knew when the word was applied, and they reasoned that “Oh, when so-and-so smashed their hand in the drawer or stubbed their toe or stepped on a Lego in the middle of the whatever, this word came out.”

And so then the child reasoned like, “Okay, so that word when that happens. Okay, good.” They associated the appropriate time for that to happen. They heard it and, of course, they saw. And so then, when that happens to them — bam! They say the word, thinking that’s the appropriate word for that situation, not realizing that’s not what they’re supposed to be saying.

The things you hear soon become the things you say and do. So you must be careful, little ears, what you hear. Let’s go to Proverbs 4:14-17.

Proverbs 4:14-17: “Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evildoers. Avoid it, do not travel on it; turn from it and go on your way. For they cannot rest until they do evil; they are robbed of sleep till they make someone stumble. They eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence.”

Do not set foot on that path. What you hear will help influence that. Verse 15 — I love this part. It can’t get any more clear. “Avoid it, do not travel on it; turn from it and go on your way. ” As if there was any question.

So if there are things, wickedness happening, if — if there are people in your life, like maybe your friends, your hunting buddies, or something, and you’re out and you bring your children with and they swear a lot but you tell your child,

“It’s okay. We’re there. You just don’t talk like that.” And they know this. That’s not good because even if they — if you tell them no, but they’re still exposed to that environment, those words are coming into their ears.

Those words are influencing them. What did Proverbs just say? “Avoid it. Do not travel on it. Turn from it. Go on your way.” You say, “Yeah, but that’s my friend.” I don’t care. Make new friends. “Avoid it. Do not travel on it. Turn from it. Go on your way.” Do not be that person that leads their child astray. Remember, what does that say?

“It is better for you to have a millstone tied around — hung around your neck and be thrown into the depths of the sea.” Yes, it is better for that person to never have been born. Don’t lead them astray.

Do not expose them to that. As a parent, you are your child’s spiritual guardian. God entrusted you with that. You must make sure you are guarding their ears. Be careful, little ears. Now that doesn’t mean you have to shelter your children.

They need to know what the world’s about. They need to experience it, yes, but they also need to know they are not of this world. They are of a heavenly kingdom. So you need to be concerned more of what they are putting in their ears from the Bible.

Fill them with the knowledge of God because if they are hearing, if you are helping them get exposed to things that are not of God — crude talk, perverse language — Paul talks a lot about it.

Keep all this corrupt talk and moral filth from your lips. So that means keep it from your ears as well. If there are people that speak that way around you, do not let your children be near them. They don’t need to hear that. You don’t need to hear that. “Yeah, but they’re my friend. I — No. New friends, not just for your children, but for you. You can’t be listening to that.

If someone around you is always making crude jokes or innuendos, guess what? Pretty soon, you’re going to start thinking that way. When something happens, it might start out like,

“So-and-so would make this type of joke,” or “You know what, so-and-so would say,” or you might say it and then say, “That’s what so-and-so would say.” Then pretty soon you just start saying it because you heard it and now you’re thinking it, and then you’re saying and doing it.

“Avoid it, do not travel on it; turn from it and go on your way. ” Stay away. Once you internalize that stuff, it simply slips out. Just like the swear words or something from a child, hearing it. It they just come out. Let’s go to Matthew 5:18.

“For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen will by any means disappear from the law until everything is accomplished.”

Not the smallest letter. Everything will be here for all to hear. It won’t disappear till everything is accomplished. Just remember what God is telling you to do. You must do. You have to remember this. You need to live according to what He tells us to do. You have to be careful, little ears, what you hear because if you are not careful, these things will just happen. They will just slip out.

They just it, it influences your behavior, and that’s not a good thing. You may say bad words and don’t know where they came from. You may make jokes that you never thought you would make. You may do something that is very unlike you, and the reason is because you have been exposed to bad character.

Let’s go to 1 Corinthians 15:33. It says, “Do not be misled: ‘Bad company corrupts good character.’” If you have bad company around you, it will corrupt your good character. We have a sermon, “Pull You Down.” They will pull you down.

You must be careful. If you hang around people who use foul language or who are constantly in a state of anger or ex, some kind of emotion that you don’t want to be associated with, then guess what? It’ll come off on you.

Proverbs says, “Do not associate with one who is easily angered lest you become like them and get yourself ensnared.” What does that mean? You become trapped in anger. I’ve said this before, but a lot of these negative emotions are actually demonic manifestations.

You see, what happens is there are two things that can — they’re two forces that want to inhabit you: God and the devil. Holiness, evil — good, evil — God wants you to be filled with the Holy Spirit, with His Holy Spirit.

Satan wants you to be filled with his demons, and what happens is people manifest the characteristic of the spirit that inhabits them. What do I mean by that? If you are filled with the Holy Spirit, you will manifest the fruits of the Spirit. Goodness, peace, patience, kindness, love, joy — you know, gentleness, self-control — you will have that desire to do God’s will. You will manifest those.

If you are filled with a demon, you will manifest the characteristic of that demon. You say, “Well, I have anxiety.” You have the demon of anxiety. You are manifesting the characteristic of anxiety.

“No, no. That’s not right.” It is. This is serious business. Paul says, “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against spiritual forces.” What do you think they are? Well, I — I don’t know. You worry all the time. You have the demon of worriness, and you are manifesting the characteristic of the name of that demon. Worry. I’m afraid all the time.

You have the demon of fear. The demon of fear does not make you afraid. The demon of fear is fear. It is literally scared all the time. And so it comes in you, and now you are scared. You manifest the characteristic of that demon, of the name of that demon — fear. Someone is angry all the time. Demon of anger. They are manifesting the characteristic of anger.

So what does Proverbs mean when it says, “Do not associate with someone who is easily angered lest you become like them and get yourself ensnared”? You become trapped. The demon of anger traps you, and now you have that demon of anger, and you are being angry.

If you associate with these types of people, then your language and your emotions will begin to reflect that. Be careful, little ears, what you hear because what you hear soon becomes what you do. Let’s go to 1 Corinthians 5:11.

1 Corinthians 5:11: “But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral, greedy, an idolater, a slanderer, a drunkard, or a swindler. Do not even eat with such people.”

All right, Paul is saying that if someone is that way but they, and they claim to be a Christian, do not even associate with them. So you say, “Well, how do I reach the lost? How do I reach the drunkard or the swindler or the slanderer or the idolator? How do I reach them if I’m not to associate? If I’m not to eat with them?”

Hey, Paul says you can reach those people. What he says is if someone claims to be a Christian, a brother or sister in Christ, if someone claims to be but is choosing to live in sin, do not associate with those people.

Do not even eat with them because why? They are misrepresenting the name of Christ. They are wearing the uniform of a Christian, but they are not behaving like they should behave. So you should not be associated with them because they are giving all of Christianity a bad reputation.

And that’s what’s happening. How many Christians actually do what the Bible says? How many Christians are doers of the Word, like James says? Maybe 5%. Maybe 10%. Be generous. Okay, that means the rest of them are giving them a bad rap. The rest — how many Christians are actually doing what Jesus says?

“Go into all the world and make disciples of all nations and teach them to do all I’ve commanded you to do.” What did He command us to do? Cast out demons, raise the dead, heal the sick, minister to the poor. How many Christians are doing that? Well, if they’re not doing that, they’re not wearing the uniform of Christ properly.

How many Christians live in sin? So if someone says they are a brother or sister in Christ, yet they do these sinful things, they go to the bar every Friday night and drink, they swear, they watch pornography, they live in a sexual, lustful relationship, they have fornication going on, they swear all the time, they’re violent, they’re angry — whatever it is.

If they choose to live in that sinful lifestyle, then you need to have nothing to do with them. That’s what Paul says, “with such people, do not even eat.” Now you should pray for them, that they see the light. Probably they aren’t a Christian. They’re just calling themselves one. So you could try to reach them, but do not be yoked with them.

Yes, we must try to reach the lost. Evangelism. Christ says that that’s the Great Commission, but there’s a big difference between preaching and sharing the gospel with someone and throwing in your lot with them. That’s the difference.

You need to know where the line is. Paul’s saying, know where the line is with those people. Do not become associated. You don’t go into business with someone like that. You don’t have a partnership with someone like that.

You don’t enter into a relationship with someone like that. You don’t throw in your lot with them. You don’t enter into an agreement or a partnership with them. So be careful what you’re hearing because often, those people are saying things that you shouldn’t be hearing anyway. They live a lifestyle that you shouldn’t be modeling. Remember, Jesus is our model. So listen to what Jesus said, and that’s what you will say. That’s what you will do.

You are human, and humans behave like those around them. We do sponges and mirrors. That’s what we are. We soak up information and then we reflect on that information; internalize then externalize it. We see we do. We hear we do. Let’s go to Proverbs.

Proverbs 13:20. Proverbs 13:20: “Walk with the wise and become wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.” You need to associate with people who are godly, with people who are doing the Word. I know it might be hard to find them, but you can start.

Be different. Walk with the wise and you will become wise. There’s a saying: the only way to get better at doing something like chess — this is really, it’s, I think, the saying is probably a chess saying, but it’s from games — the only way to improve is to play a better opponent.

So if you want to get better at doing something, you don’t play someone where you beat them all the time. Like, if you’re a mediocre chess player, you’re not going to go play beginners and win all the time just so you feel good.

That’s wrong. You’re going to go play better chess players, and you’re going to los,e and you’re going to get better by losing because you’re learning more. Walk with the wise and become wise.

So if you’re the smartest person in the room, you need to make some different friends so that there are other people in the room smarter than you. Now I know that can be challenging. I know from personal experience that’s very difficult. Ask people around me.

I’m not saying this to be arrogant or to be prideful, but growing up in school, in college, in everywhere, if you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re generally doing the teaching, not the learning.

And that’s what I was doing often, which is good. That’s great. It’s great to be teaching. You also learn by teaching, but on the same level, you need to walk with people who are wiser than you. And so oftentimes, for people who are very intelligent, that means that their friends or the people that they hang around are often decades older than they are.

There’s nothing wrong with that. In my experience, that’s what I found in my life. As a 22- or 23-year-old, I was hanging around, I was volunteering at places where the median age was about 65.

And, so, I was with that level, learning their wisdom of life. Think how far ahead they were. Walk with the wise and become wise. There’s a story in the Bible of a king who his, his advisers — his, his father died. He took the kingdom.

His advisers said, “You need to do this for your people.” And these advisers were his father’s advisers. They were old. They were very wise. They said, “Do this. You know, lighten the burdens. Ease the yoke. Tell him you’re going to be a great ruler.” And he went to his friends of his own age.

They said, “No, don’t do that. Tell them that your little finger is thicker than your father’s wrist, maybe, or waist — that you thought it was hard under my father. I will make it even worse.” And he listened to his foolish friends. And what happened? His kingdom suffered harm. A companion of fools suffers harm. What are you putting into your ears?

What are you listening to? Who are you listening to? Who are the voices in your life? I’m not talking like from your mind, like the Holy Spirit, or listening to demons or the devil, or hearing voices.

No, I mean, like, who is speaking to your life? Be careful, little ears, what you hear. It is so important for you to associate with godly people. You must shield your ears from anything that does not agree with biblical principles.

This includes music. What are the songs that you are listening to? Because oftentimes, those songs get stuck in your head. They play on repeat. If you are listening to songs about violence or killing or swearing or sex or lust or any of that, that’s going into your mind, and pretty soon, you’re going to be singing those out your mouth, and they are in your heart. That’s not good.

TV — same thing. What? What lines are you hearing on TV? What quotes are you hearing and then saying? What are you repeating? The people around you, what are you listening to? Who are you listening to? Anything you may hear. It cannot go against the Word of God. Mark 4:24: “Consider carefully what you hear.”

Let’s pray.

Father, thank you so much for this message. Please inspire each and every person to take a second look. To take a deeper look at what they are listening to, at who they are listening to, at the words or the sounds that are coming in because they need to be listening to you. They need to be hearing you.

They need to be hearing life. Help them walk with the wise and become wise. Help them find the right people to be around so that they do not become ensnared by the demonic manifestations of others, by the things of others, by the things of this world.

Help them remember that this is more serious than just surface level, that we wage a war since the beginning of time, and that we, as believers, need to be on one side of it and one side only.

Lord, give them eyes to see and ears to hear. Help them receive that and know what to do with it, and have the strong desire to become disciples of you. In Jesus’ name, amen.

If you receive that prayer, your life is about to change because having eyes to see and ears to hear means you will be opened up to a whole new world of possibilities — a greater calling and a greater purpose that you will discover in Christ.

Have a great week, and God bless.