Itching Ears
Second Timothy 4:3-4 states “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.” Sometimes, what we need to hear is not necessarily what we want to hear. God has addressed this issue by giving us the Bible. It is the revelation of His truth to mankind. In it is contained everything that we need for life and godliness (1 Peter 1:3) and everything to equip us to every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17). The Bible often discusses subjects that challenge our choices! What ought we to do about that?
Sometimes, what you don’t want to hear, you need to hear.
We must be open to the preaching of any Bible topic at any given time, especially, when we don’t want to hear it. I have wrestled with sin and heard the preaching of the truth on that subject from God’s word. It was not comfortable; I didn’t like the fact that I had to wrestle with my conscience, but it was good for me to do so. It is more uncomfortable when we want to do the sins that the Bible condemns. God wants us to fight the sin that is in our lives even when it isn’t comfortable, and that is why He exhorts preachers to preach without compromise. Many choose to simply listen to preachers who tell them what they want to hear. However, when the Bible contradicts our desires, we need to be corrected to bring our desires in line with the Bible’s teaching. Jesus said, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent” (Revelation 3:19).