Careful, Little Ears

 

Whoever restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding. Proverbs 17:27

 

I was proud and fearful at the same time.

At our family dinner table recently, our Grandson, Bruce, asked what a “desktop” is. His father gave him a brief, but accurate description that Bruce was processing back to him. As he was talking, the littlest grand, not yet two, always wanting to be a part of the conversation, started saying, “Ibrary, ibrary!”

Thinking she was not really contributing, we ignored her to hear Bruce. Then, it hit us. The library they had been to that day has a desktop computer, just as her Dad had described. She was giving her siblings an example of what it looks like.

Is it a scary thought to you that a less than two year old can have that kind of understanding of the conversation going on around her? I mean, in reality, she is not a lot smarter than any other grandmother’s grandchild (regardless of her being my grandchild). She is a normal child with the normal capacity to understand.

If she can grasp the description of a desktop computer, then she can understand gossip, foul language, and descriptions of things she is not ready for.

I get concerned about mothers who will say things without considering what “little ears” are there to hear. Talking negatively about husbands or even parents or in-laws, using foul language, or gossiping about a neighbor in front of their children of any age, can affect the child’s thinking.

With these little ones, we often think we are safe, they won’t “get it.” Not only do they hear us, they can relate the conversation to the people talked about.

The positive side is that small children can also understand and begin to incorporate the truths about Christ, God the Father, and the power of the Holy Spirit in simple ways. We tend to shy away from teaching one so young because we think they are limited – and they are – just not as much as we think.

The Bible has much to say about parents’ responsibilities to teach their children (Deuteronomy 6:7 ). It speaks to our need before everyone to use words that build up rather than tear down (Ephesians 4:29). We are even warned about rash words, spoken so quickly they feel like a sword thrust to the receiver (Proverbs 12:18).

The positive side of this is an encouragement: we can begin training our children at a young age to understand how great God is.

The negative side brings us a warning: we can damage those little spirits with our words.

If words are spoken in front of a child, the effect is as if they had been spoken to the child.

Are you careful about what words the little ears around you hear?