"Take Heed What You Hear" By Steve Backlund
“Receive not an accusation against an elder except in the mouth of two or three witnesses” (1 Timothy 5:19).
This is a fascinating verse that has deep insights for radical mind renewers. It tells us we can hear hearsay information about someone but not really “hear” it. Not hearing it means we have not allowed it to shape our beliefs about the person. In essence, we have refused to renew our minds with the information we heard. We did not “receive” it.
This is a profound truth in our desire to walk in personal victory and increased positive influence. It applies not only to words spoken to us but also to what our circumstances and feelings are trying to tell us. We have the power to not receive deceptive messages being sent to us.
“Then He said to them, ‘Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given. For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him’” (Mark 4:24-25). Jesus ties our future abundance to what we allow ourselves to hear.
The wise believer will regularly think, “I am not going to receive that '' concerning life-restricting messages, but the more important step is to hear the right things. This is what Jesus is referring to in the Mark passage above. The writer of Hebrews gives insight on this as well. “For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it” (Hebrews 4:2). “Mixing faith” with what God has said and is saying will cause a “profit” (the abundance promised in Mark 4:24-25).
One of the most powerful ways to ensure we will hear God’s highest words for us is to be skilled in the word of righteousness. This is revealed in Hebrews 5:11-13. In verse eleven, the writer of Hebrews said he could not go on with his teaching because the Hebrews had become “dull of hearing”. This dullness blocked their ability to hear, attach faith to, and receive God’s highest promises and beliefs about them. He goes on to say that they were only able to receive the “milk” of God’s word because they were “unskilled in the word of righteousness”. Notice, that is not just skilled in “the word” but it is in the “word of righteousness”.
If we are skilled in the word of righteousness, we will believe we are still righteous if we do an unrighteous act. If we are unskilled in the word of righteousness, we will believe we are not righteous if we do an unrighteous act. (Certainly, I am not saying we should be unconcerned about unrighteous behavior, but we cannot truly transform our behavior without first addressing our beliefs.) Our skill level concerning the word of righteousness will dramatically affect what we hear because the unskilled one believes God is primarily concerned with their behavior. They believe that if they really hear Him, then they will only hear how disapproving He is of them and their behavior. God is seen as a nagging parent who is endlessly harping about our negative qualities. This creates a dullness of hearing because we will tend to not even want to hear from our Heavenly Father, and if we are hearing this, then we have not “taken heed to what we hear”.
The most important thing that the Lord wants us to hear from Him is that we are a beloved son or daughter of Him who is forgiven, delivered, powerful, and free. We can conclude this from what Jesus heard when He was baptized (Matthew 3:17), what He spoke as He started His ministry (Luke 4:17-19), and what the Apostle Paul was most desired that the Ephesians and Colossians heard and had revelation about (Ephesians 1:15-19, 3:14-20, Colossians 1:9-14)
Take heed what we hear, what we receive as true. As we exercise self-control in our hearing and focus on the most important things God is saying, we will profit and experience greater abundance to make an astounding difference for people, families, cities, and nations.