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Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.
1 Corinthians 2:12
Reflect
My daughter is a licensed hairdresser. In fact, cutting, styling and coloring hair is her passion. (At least it was her greatest passion until she had her first child…) I should have seen it coming because when she was in middle school, a classmate convinced her that coloring her hair red with Hawaiian Punch was a good idea because the color wouldn’t last long. We agreed to let her make the change — and the classmate was wrong. Lizzi’s hair stayed red for months.
Since then, I can’t count how many times her hair color has changed. I’ll see her again next month, and I suppose I’ll find out then what color her hair is now.
Hair color is so commonplace that we usually don’t even think about whether someone is or isn’t coloring their hair. Men and women alike use hair coloring products, and entire rows in grocery and drug stores are devoted to a myriad of brands and shades. But it wasn’t always that way.
In 1956, Shirley Polykoff was a junior copywriter for Foote, Cone and Belding, an advertising agency handling the Clairol account. At the time, hair color was still considered taboo, at least among “genteel” or “cultured” women. But Polykoff came up with a couple of memorable lines: “Does she or doesn’t she?” and “Only her hairdresser knows for sure.”
Those phrases helped transform hair coloring from something many women kept secret into an ordinary part of American life. Polykoff’s work eventually earned her induction into the Advertising Hall of Fame, and today hair coloring is a multibillion-dollar global industry.
Advertising is a huge influence on our daily lives. Think about all of the products you’ve purchased that you never would have considered had you not seen them on TV or online first. (And I’m sure that a number of those products gave you some “buyer’s remorse” later.) Ads can be so persuasive that they motivate us even years after they first aired.
I was once listening to a replay of a radio broadcast from the 1970s, and it included a spot for a beverage. The commercial was so enticing — and it was hot outside — that I went out and bought the drink later that day. And yes, I also had buyer’s remorse.
That’s why we have to be careful who “has our ear.”
Friends might be well-meaning, but they can sometimes steer us in the wrong direction. (Just ask my daughter how she feels about Hawaiian Punch as a hair coloring option.) Advertisers may sincerely believe in what they’re selling, but their purpose is still to persuade us that we need something enough to buy it.
And the world is constantly selling us something.
It tells us what we need to be happy. It tells us what success should look like. It tells us what we should fear, what we should desire and even what should determine our value. If we listen long enough, those messages can begin shaping the way we see ourselves and everything around us.
Paul tells us that believers have received something different: “not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God.” And he tells us why — “that we might understand the things freely given us by God.”
That’s quite a contrast.
The world continually tells us what we’re missing and what we need to acquire. The Spirit helps us recognize what God has already freely given us.
When the messaging around us leaves us confused, anxious or convinced that we aren’t enough, we have another voice to listen to. Through Scripture, prayer and worship, the Holy Spirit continually redirects our attention toward the truth of God. His words bring life, His character doesn’t change, and His wisdom isn’t designed to sell us anything.
We still have to decide who gets our ear.
But when we listen to the Spirit instead of simply absorbing the messages of the world, we can begin to see our lives differently. We can recognize God’s gifts, rest in His promises and receive the peace, assurance and wisdom He freely gives.
(And the Lord will probably never ask you to use a powdered drink to dye your hair.)
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Reflection copyright © 2026 Doug DeBolt and Charles Fulton.
Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
