Who’s in Your Ear?

It didn’t make sense to me why I wasn’t seeing God until I began to understand what God defines as pure. In our fallen state as humans we have created many ways in which we try and adapt God’s true definition of purity. While this may look good to us, sound good to us, and allow us to live easier lives, and by easier, I mean compromised lives…it will not allow us to see God.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8, NKJV)

To be pure is to be free from corrupt desire, cleansed by pruning, made fit to bear fruit and to impart no uncleanness. Purity is the removal of mixture and the end of divided loyalty from you towards Christ.

One of the areas in which our loyalty is often divided against God, rendering us impure, is with who we allow to have influence over us. I can attest to the fact that the people I gave influence to speak to me, guide me, counsel me, and advise me drastically impacted my purity.

I remember some time ago I was invited to an event that I was expected to attend. There was a strong 'aht, aht' from the Holy Spirit that I could sense. I didn’t know why, but I knew I shouldn't go. I prayed, fasted, looked for answers in the Bible. I was still hearing a strong 'No'. And this is when the counsel started…

• “…surely God wouldn’t tell you not to come”

• “…as a Christian nothing bad will happen to you if you go”

• “…our culture dictates that you are an important person in proceedings”

• "...what will people say"

In that season God really pruned and retuned my ears and looking back I can say truly the wrong people in your ear will lead you straight into impurity.

So here are some of the questions I have learned to ask myself when vetting counsel:

1. Have I prayed and fasted on this matter?

^"Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart." (Jeremiah 29:12-13, NKJV)

Before I ask a Pastor, my family, or anyone else for advice, the first question must be: What is God saying?

When we truly come to God to beseech Him for an answer in fasting and prayer, He will answer us. Our problems arise when we ourselves are unsure what God is saying and we rely on people to advise us. Often, what we interpret as “God is not answering” is really, “God is not giving me the answer I want"...and so we go to the people who we know will tell us what we want to hear.

Seeking advice from others should never replace time in the secret place if we are to be women of purity and audacity. It is only God who can tell you why you feel that check in your spirit even when everything else looks good on paper.

2. What does the Bible say?

“This false teaching is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough!” (Galatians 5:9, NLT)

It was in this season that I learned that a woman of true purity has absolutely no business taking advice, counsel, or guidance from anyone who does not read and study their Bible.

It’s harsh, I know, but hear me out.

It was through reading the Scriptures that I was able to see that God often instructed individuals to do certain things that went against the norm, things that made no human sense, often without providing any explanation - yet requiring full obedience regardless (i.e., Abraham being asked to sacrifice Isaac). Therefore, the advice I received to attend the event because “surely God wouldn’t tell you not to come”, was false teaching.

He absolutely would. He absolutely did. And He absolutely had.

This is why Paul warns against a little false teaching and its ability to spread throughout your whole life. You cannot afford not to be strict with this point. Those who have your ear must be biblically literate.

3. Is this advice coming from a life that bears good, godly fruit?

"You will know them by what they do. Thorn bushes do not bear grapes, and briers do not bear figs. A healthy tree bears good fruit, but a poor tree bears bad fruit." (Matthew 7:16-17, GNT)

Years ago, at a bridal shower, an older woman shared what sounded like godly advice on marriage and motherhood. I rejected it, not out of pride, but because her life didn’t reflect her counsel.

As Christians, we often assume age, position, or experience makes someone’s advice automatically trustworthy. But even in the workplace, a CEO only listens to advisors who have proven results. Why? Because wisdom and integrity matter. The same principle applies spiritually: counsel must come from those who bear good, godly fruit.

This is not judgment. It’s discernment.

4. Can I discern why I want advice, and the motive behind why it is being offered?

Sometimes, advice may align with the Bible, come from someone who lives it out, and bear good, godly fruit, but it can still lead you away from purity if the motive behind it is wrong.

"All the ways of a man are clean and innocent in his own eyes [and he may see nothing wrong with his actions], but the LORD weighs and examines the motives and intents [of the heart and knows the truth]." (Proverbs 16:2, AMP)

God has been dealing with me in the area of people-pleasing for years. Early in this process, I would purposely seek advice from people I knew would say things like, “…x, y, z is the most loving thing to do, and the Bible says without love we are nothing”, even when I knew that was not God's specific instruction to me at that time.

Expressing love is not sinful or impure in itself, but because of God’s pruning in my life, my motive for seeking that advice was impure.

The opposite is true as well.

Your motive for seeking advice may be pure, but the person offering it may have impure motives, whether to keep you on their side, jealousy, or to make you fearful. Even good advice, when mixed with the wrong motive, leads to impurity. We discern this through the Holy Spirit.

This is why prayer, fasting, and personally seeking God’s guidance must always be the first step.

So sis, who's in your ear?

In love,

Gabriella Mwedzi