Archive Story | GIGO - Episode 21
Originally written June 10, 2011
posted here: https://forthesakeofthetruth.com/2011/06/10/gigo/
I remember many years ago when I was studying computer science, first in Vo-Tech in the 70s, then in college in the 80s, there was a term that was frequently used. It sounded funny, and we tossed it around flippantly, but nevertheless, one that is true and was birthed out of truth. The irony of that term is that it is pretty much universal, not just for computers. That term is GIGO, or Garbage In, Garbage Out.
Through the years, I realize this is critically true of us as humans. From the moment a baby is born, they are learning. They are taking in information which will develop them into the person they will become. The better the information they take in, the better person they will grow to be.
They take in information through their eyes, ears, and touch. The first years of a baby’s life are massive sequences of data input and storage. Each progressive step is built on the previous step. Much, if not most, of what a child learns is not taught to the child directly, but indirectly as they perceive the world around them.
We are still the same today. It is probably safe to say, however, that our learning process slows with time. We stop receiving new experiences or become set in our thoughts and ideals and refuse to receive or accept information that is new to us. We develop biased opinions over time, which influences every thought or piece of knowledge that we receive.
Right now, I am still studying the parable of the sower. God keeps impressing on me that there is much more to see in that parable than we have ever dreamed. Today, this scripture stood out to me.
Luke 8:18
18 Be careful therefore how you listen. For to him who has [spiritual knowledge] will more be given; and from him who does not have [spiritual knowledge], even what he thinks and guesses and supposes that he has will be taken away. Amplified Bible
The word ‘how’ really stuck out to me. Not be careful ‘that’ we listen, but ‘how’. As I meditated on this, reading the definitions of the Greek root words, I saw this as further confirmation that we must listen to the Word with acceptance and not resistance, as I spoke about in the recent blog Good Ground.
There is a strong warning in this verse. To gain spiritual knowledge, you must accept that whatever the Word says is truth and determine to receive that truth with an open mind. If you do this, you will gain more spiritual knowledge. The spiritual knowledge needed to produce a good outcome in your life.
If you don’t; if you close off your mind and heart to aspects of the bible, picking and choosing what you decide to believe and manipulate the interpretation based on pre-disposed ideas, you will lose even that spiritual knowledge that you think you already have.
We must feed on the truth of the Word and not on false, partially correct, or out of context teachings. They will produce toxic results and will not transform our lives the way Christ intended. So how then do we know if what we are hearing is delivered to us with the correct interpretation and not with a predisposed bias?
Hebrews 8:10-11
10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will imprint My laws upon their minds, even upon their innermost thoughts and understanding, and engrave them upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
11 And it will nevermore be necessary for each one to teach his neighbor and his fellow citizen or each one his brother, saying, Know (perceive, have knowledge of, and get acquainted by experience with) the Lord, for all will know Me, from the smallest to the greatest of them. Amplified Bible.
It is good to listen to preachers and teachers of the Word, but the most important thing you can do is read the Word for yourself. Read it with an open mind and ask with sincerity for the Holy Spirit to reveal to you the accurate interpretation of the Word. Don’t read it with a preconceived notion or thought, but fresh and new as the Spirit reveals it to you, and then accept it as it is.
That is one of the primary services of the Holy Spirit to us: to reveal to us the truth in the Word. If you ask with a genuine heart to learn and know the truth, then you are developing good ground and this is HOW you listen, by listening not to men only, but to the Holy Spirit as He teaches you the truth with an open mind.
And with this truth, with this revelation comes the power to transform, to change. Not by your own might, but by the Spirit.
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Miracle Story | God Surprised Me - Episode 21
