Denying Falsehood, Developing Discernment, and Making Better Decisions

I. Learn

It’s no secret that there’s a difference between hearing and listening. What separates the two experiences? Focus and attention, both of which are choices within our control.

Proverbs 29:12 (ESV) says, “If a ruler listens to falsehood, all his officials will be wicked.”

Notice Solomon didn’t write “hears falsehood.” He wrote, “listens to falsehood.” The Hebrew word for “listen” in that verse is qashab, which literally means “to give attention.” We can’t control everything we hear, but we can control what we do with what we hear.

While this is a simple case study of downstream influence in leadership, the principle applies to all of us because it reveals the lethal consequences of entertaining falsehood when it arrives as a seed of thought.

And thus the point:

Whatever we give heartfelt attention to in thought (that’s the listening part) has the opportunity to become a belief. Beliefs that form our mindset manifest in word and action, which, over time, become our character. And whether we like it or not, we always lead and influence others from who we really are (or have become) from the inside out.

II. Apply

Let’s architect a plan in advance so that we don’t unintentionally reproduce falsehood through our lives. Practice installing the following habits into your mind as you go throughout your day and engage in various conversations with others (I wrote the three keywords, deny, develop, and decide, on an index card).

1. Deny an audience to unsubstantiated chatter and “ill-informed, unedifying, stupid controversies that only foster strife.” (2 Timothy 2:23)
2. Develop the discernment to understand what is good and true.
3. Decide in advance to believe and act in the opposite spirit, according to truth in love.

Denying falsehood requires focus and intention. Developing discernment requires a commitment to remain teachable and investigate sources thoroughly before speaking or acting. And making any worthwhile decision in life requires a rooted belief in the direction of your decision.

Right back to where we started today, beliefs are formed as a result of the things to which we give our attention.

And as Jesus said in Mark 4:24, “Be careful what you are hearing. The measure [of thought and study] you give [to the truth you hear] will be the measure [of virtue and knowledge] that comes back to you–and more [besides] will be given to you who hear.”

Subscribe to Win the Week here to receive this content directly in your inbox each week.