Steve Jobs once said, "Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your inner voice."
Edward Gibbon, an English historian & Parliament member from the 18th century, said "I never make the mistake of arguing with people for whose opinions I have no respect."
John, a disciple of Jesus said, "My dear friends, don't believe everything you hear. Carefully weigh and examine what people tell you." (1 John 4:1)
Jesus said it this way: "Pay close attention to what you here." (Mark 4:24)
Basically, they all agree on this: It matters who you listen to. The voices we listen to affect us. The people we regularly listen to shape our thoughts, opinions, attitudes, and life.
So who should we avoid? Here's a few suggestions.
3 Voices You Need To Ignore:
- The Negative Nancy. Negativity breeds negativity. It spreads like wildfire. Be careful about being around people who are consistently negative. Negativity is a virus that is quickly contagious.
- The Constant Complainer. These are the people who ALWAYS have something to complain about. You know these folks. The guy you could give $1,000,000 to and he'd complain that you gave it to him in $100 bills and not $20s. These people can quickly drain the joy, happiness, and hope out of your life.
- The Gossip. The best definition of a gossip I've ever heard is this: People who talk about you, without you. Gossip always hurts people. It never leads to good. So don't be a part of it. In fact, here's a great test of whether or not you're listening to a gossip. Do the people you listen to consistently talk about others when they're not around? If they talk about them when they're not present, you can bet that they're talking about you when you're not around.
The voices we listen to help mold us into the people we become. Guard your ears...because in doing so, you are actually guarding your heart and life.
1 comment:
Yes!! Sweet job of fitting the advice into 3 digestible truths. Yep, all 3 'personalities' - or I'd even say all three methods of doing life are in real contrast to Jesus's living out both the words we take in and dish out...almost always within our self-created perimeters of what we've decided we're entitled to, along with our blindness to fact that God's advice covers (seriously?) even cultural norms of the year 2014! It's just what you do, right? :)
Instead of revealing all the heinous ways I've been guilty of wearing all 3 hats, I thought I'd share flip side of coin...ways that God has corrected me in those areas:
1. Spewing toxic negativity: God showed me that my own eye-log needed attn...rather than whipping up a Power Point on shortcomings around me. It means I I've decided that the cross wasn't quite fulfilling enough for my list of requirements to be content.
One solution: get my eyes off myself and get knee deep in living close to someone who knows what hunger and poverty look like.
2. Complaining: I hate to say it, but I know I'm part of a generation of Christ-following women (I know it's not all female!) who feel, and are encouraged to "just vent" about all that's wrong. Otherwise, we'd just explode, right? God has told me to go to Him with most of my complaints or hurts..and if it's serious, then seek some wise counsel. I will not join in any husband-bashing sessions, even light-hearted and seemingly innocuous banter, because a root of discontent took root if I knew that someone else's husband wasn't as 'bad' as mine. :) same with house caparisons, car comparisons, etc. it's nothing but toxic to my contentment.
3. Gossip: Whew..He's made me passionate about this one. I've found a mid-life realization (finally!) that the beauty of being able to speak life into another precious-in-God's-eyes human being is beyond anything we realize. And the exact opposite is even more true. God's given me the ability, say in a secular workplace where backbiting and whispered cutdowns are frequent, (thru much prayer, mind you!) to start to see people as God must see them, and all annoyance and desire to spread a good scoop just dissapates. And your quietly cheerful silence or changing topics among gossip WILL be noticed by non-believers and probably respected...although you'll probably never be complimented on it!
I didn't mean to comment with a novelette here, but I really enjoyed your post. Keep up the blogging!
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