Oh be careful little ears what you hear

I liked this song when I was little.  I don't really remember singing it at church, but I remember my mom singing it to me.  I think we may have even had a cassette tape with this song and a few other church songs for kids.  I've been giving thought to the things we listen to.  One thing that has captured my attention is how discontentment breeds or infects anyone who stays around it.  We all have "off" days where we might complain about something, or have our fill of something.  I'm not talking about that.  I'm thinking more of those folks who can not find happiness no matter where they look.  It seems that they live life full of discontentment.  They are just miserable people, who, for whatever reason can't get past their discontentment.  Henry David Thoreau said it like this "If misery loves company, misery has company enough". 

My thought has been focused more on how we should reach out to people who are miserable, but keep distance enough to not let their misery infect our hearts.  I've noticed that when unhappy people get around a happy person, that happy person begins to find fault where they once did not.  They begin to see life through different glasses.  It's unfortunate that it is generally easier for the unhappy person to bring down the happy person rather than the happy person bringing up the unhappy person.  Proverbs 18:21 says "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits."  When someone is constantly speaking "death" words and not "life" words to you, you begin to believe those words over God's word.  I had a youth pastor who would tell us "garbage in, garbage out."  We have to be careful who we surround ourselves with, who we allow to speak into our lives.  I know a woman who was somewhat unhappy in her marriage, but didn't really consider divorce as an option.  However, she started hanging out with some women who were either already divorced or strongly considering it.  Once she started hanging out with these women, suddenly divorce became the only option for her happiness in her mind. 

Unfortunately, it's not always as blatant as that.  It can sometimes be as simple as song lyrics or books that we read.  (No, I'm not saying we need to go burn all our secular CD's and Books).  We should just be a little more guarded over what we meditate on.  This is really all for me right now.  I've noticed that as I listen to those who might not be "life" speakers, I start to view myself and others differently.  This is why I am so thankful for my husband.  No, he's not perfect, but he ALWAYS helps bring things into perspective for me.  God is awesome like that!  He knew I would need him in my life, and we are a great compliment to each other when it comes to our words and what we hear.  I generally speak well of everyone, but when I start to have negative feelings or words coming out of me, Todd will always bring me back to God's word. 

I don't usually quote from the Message bible, but I do like Psalms 141:3-6 in that version : "Post a guard at my mouth, God, set a watch at the door of my lips. Don't let me so much as dream of evil or thoughtlessly fall into bad company. And these people who only do wrong— don't let them lure me with their sweet talk! May the Just One set me straight, may the Kind One correct me, Don't let sin anoint my head."

Let's be careful what we hear, see, say, and do!  In all our ways, let's acknowledge Him so He can direct our paths!  :)  Don't worry, be happy! 

p.s.  I hope this one made sense... I'm exhausted and my computer keeps crashing on me.