In One Ear and Out the Other?

Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable,

whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing,

whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence,

and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Philippians 4:8

When I was a child, my parents used to tell me, “You are what you think.”  For several years of my young life, I thought that their meaning was: “You are who you think you are.”   It took quite a while for me to understand that their message actually was:  “You are what you think about.”  In other words, what you absorb into your mind becomes a part of who you are.

Our minds absorb millions of bits of information every single day.  Although one of my father’s favorite sayings was, “In one ear and out the other,” the reality is that what we hear and what we see stays with us, imprinted as bytes of information in the intricate computer that is our brain.  Our recall of things that we have seen, heard, or read is amazing in its depth and accuracy.  Eventually, my parents’ message became quite clear: be careful what you absorb into your mind.

If you are a parent, you know full well that you only have to slip up once and say a swear word in front of your young child, and they’ve got it for eternity.  How many times have you said to your kids, “Where in the world did you hear that?”  It is no different for adults.  What we see, hear, and read become a part of our lives.  Much of what we absorb in unavoidable.  We cannot go through life like the “See no evil” monkeys, but we can choose to not buy that magazine, change channels, or pick a different movie.  We are in control of what we deliberately decide to feed our minds.  Paul’s advice is to choose wisely.

In my life, Lord, be glorified, be glorified;

In my life, Lord, be glorified today.