Are You Truly Listening - #277

In this episode we continue our look at what it means to F.E.A.R. God. 

There is a big difference between hearing and listening. You do not come to Scripture like a critic trying to analyze it, but as a learner who is ready to be shaped by it. 

Transcript

There is a big difference between hearing and listening. Hearing just happens. It is passive. Sound reaches your ears whether you are paying attention or not. Listening requires having a teachable heart. You do not come to Scripture like a critic trying to analyze it, but as a learner who is ready to be shaped by it. You are not looking for it to agree with you, but willing to let it correct you, encourage you, and even stretch you as you choose to agree with God.

Welcome to The Point of Purity Podcast—a weekly Bible study packed with practical truth from God’s Word to help you pursue lasting purity, spiritual integrity, and genuine freedom in Christ. I’m your host Steve Etner and this is Episode #277 – join me as we continue our series on Fearing God. This week’s episode is entitled “Are You Truly Listening?”  

OK. Here’s where we are at currently in this series on fearing God: In Proverbs 2:1-5, God shows us six choices that lead to understanding the fear of the Lord and truly knowing Him. In our previous episodes we discussed choice #1 Receive God’s Word (in other words – READ God’s Word DAILY, and choice #2 Treasure God’s Word. (in other words – MEMORIZE God’s Word)

In this episode we are going to look at the third choice, but before we do – let me remind you of what our text says. In Proverbs 2:1-5 Solomon writes, “My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.”

According to Proverbs 2:2, if you want to begin understanding the fear of the Lord, the third choice you must make is this: you must daily choose to actively “listen” (make your ear attentive) to what God is telling you .

To understand the fear of the Lord, you must choose to not only read God’s word and memorize God’s word but daily choose to actively listen—to make your ears attentive to what God is saying in His word. Now, that might sound simple at first, but there is a big difference between hearing and listening.

Hearing just happens. It is passive. Sound reaches your ears whether you are paying attention or not. You can sit through a sermon without learning anything. You can read a chapter of the Bible and realize five minutes later you don’t remember what you just read. That is hearing. It doesn’t require much from you.

On the other hand, listening is purposefully choosing to give your full attention, saying, “I do not just want to hear this, I want to understand it, and so I am choosing to respond to it.” Listening takes humility. It takes focus. And it takes a willingness to actually DO something with what you hear.

Jesus makes this distinction crystal clear in Matthew 7:24-27. He describes two men who both hear His words. Both are exposed to Biblical truth. Both receive the same message. The difference is not in what they hear, but in what they choose to do with it.

The foolish man hears and does nothing with it. The truth never moves past the surface. It is simply information. When pressure hits in his life, everything falls apart because he has no real foundation.

The wise man hears the same words but immediately responds. He takes what he hears very seriously and immediately chooses to actively build his life upon it. That is what it means to truly listen. He treats God’s Word as fully authoritative, worth aligning his life around. When life is difficult, he stands firm upon the truth he has chosen to listen to.

When Proverbs 2:2 says “make your ear attentive,” it is calling us to more than just exposure to Scripture. It is calling us to a heart posture that says, “God, I am not just going to hear You, I am choosing to listen, understand, and respond.” You see, this is where real change happens.

Sincerely listening to God’s Word means going a step further than just asking, “What does this say?” You must ask, “What is God saying to me right now? Why does this matter for my life? And what needs to change because of it?”

Listening requires having a teachable heart. You do not come to Scripture like a critic trying to analyze it, but as a learner who is ready to be shaped by it. You are not looking for it to agree with you, but willing to let it correct you, encourage you, and even stretch you as you choose to agree with God.

A teachable heart says, “God, if I am off track, show me. If I am drifting, pull me back. If there is something in me that needs to change, I am open.” It does not avoid the hard parts. It does not skip over conviction. It actively engages,  asking, “Alright, what do you want me to do with this?”

That takes humility. It means setting aside our assumptions  and presumptions and instead letting God’s Word speak with full and complete authority. Instead of us evaluating Scripture, we let Scripture evaluate us. The goal is not just to learn something new, but to actually be changed from the inside out.

This is where listening becomes visible: it shows up in our actions. Listening is not complete until it leads to something different in your life. When you are truly listening, you start to see how what you have read connects to you. It affects how you choose to respond when you are frustrated. It shapes how you talk to people. It influences your priorities. It nudges you toward integrity when it would be easier to cut corners. It softens pride. It steadies fear. It grows patience. It leads you toward forgiveness. That is when hearing turns into listening.

The real difference shows up in obedience. It is possible to be around Scripture often and still only be hearing. You can go to church, read your Bible, even memorize verses, and still not actually be listening. Exposure is not the same as submission. Knowing is not the same as being changed.

Listening says, “God, I am not just hearing You, I am adjusting my life because of what You’ve said.” Jesus makes this clear in John 10:27: “My sheep listen to my voice… and they follow me” (ESV). Notice how those go together. Listening leads to following. It is not just recognizing His voice, it is moving in response to it. Throughout Scripture God calls His people to listen carefully and then live accordingly. Listening and obedience are always connected.

Hearing fills your mind but listening reshapes your heart. When Proverbs 2:2 says to “make your ear attentive,” it is inviting you into that kind of posture. Lean in. Pay attention. Be ready to respond. The fear of the Lord grows in hearts that do not treat His voice like background noise, but like the absolute authority it is. The people who truly listen are the ones who walk in stability, wisdom, strength, and peace.

Alright, we’re going to hit the pause button here until next week’s episode where we will continue our study of what it means to fear God.

As we wrap up this week's episode, let me encourage you to take the next step. If this study challenged you to move beyond simply hearing God's Word and begin truly listening to it—responding to it in obedience—I want to point you to a resource that I believe can help.

I would like to recommend my book, Living Free: Victory through Surrender, available now on Amazon. Again that title is Living Free: Victory through Surrender.

You see, genuine freedom isn't found in merely knowing what God says. It's found in listening to Him, trusting Him, and surrendering to His leadership in the everyday moments of life. It's one thing to hear God's truth; it's another thing entirely to allow that truth to shape your desires, redirect your choices, and transform the way you live.

In this book Living Free: Victory through Surrender, we walk through the ongoing battle of the heart together. You'll be challenged to examine your worship, your focus, your desires, and the very foundation of your faith. More importantly, you'll discover that lasting victory over sin isn't achieved by trying harder—it's experienced by surrendering more fully to the One who knows you best and loves you most.

So, if you're serious about learning more on how to move from hearing God's Word to actually listening to it and doing what He says, head over to Amazon today and pick up your copy of Living Free: Victory through Surrender. Join me on this journey toward the deep and lasting joy that comes from wholehearted surrender to God. After all, as Romans 12:2 tells us - the goal isn't simply to be informed by God's Word. The goal is to be transformed by it.

OK, before we go, can I ask a favor? If this series on the fear of God has been encouraging or challenging you in any way, I'd love to hear about it. What has God been teaching you? How has He been using these episodes in your life?

Please send me a quick email at steve@thepuritycoach.com. I read every message, and it would be a joy to hear your story and pray for you. Thanks for letting me walk this journey with you.

In the meantime, if you have not yet subscribed to this podcast, let me encourage you to do so today so you won’t miss any of our upcoming episodes! So, until next time this is Steve Etner reminding you that if you are going to glorify God in your everyday living, He must first be glorified in your every moment thinking.