LISTEN.

When I was growing up my dad use to say to me all the time “Have you ever listened to yourself, or do you ever think about what you say?”  And of course I didn’t, I was going to speak my opinion no matter what others would say.  But this really sat with me growing up and over the years I began to listen to what I was saying and how much it didn’t make sense.   I never thought through the words that were coming out of my mouth, they just came out.   As I got older, I began to take my dads advice and think through what I would say instead of just blurting out the first things that come to mind.  I learned that when you are slow to speak and quick to listen conversations don’t escalate with prideful opinions because they have been given more thought.

Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.. James 1:19

When talking to people sometimes all we have to do is allow them to talk and let them think about what they are saying to get a good point across.  For instance when speaking with evolutionist, the easiest way to show them what they believe doesn’t make sense is to just listen to them and ask questions without trying to say much.  When you really start to think about what you believe a lot of times you come to a point where you either have to continue to walk in a lie or realize that you have been wrong and it’s time to make it right.

Listening is extremely powerful, but can be hard to do because it requires you to hold your tongue and not push your agenda.  But if you sit back and listen a lot of the times you can get better insight on where somebody is coming from.  This allows you to be able to gather better, more accurate information which will allow you to be able to walk them through your understanding of the topic without assuming what they believe.  Or maybe through listening your beliefs are challenged making you have to humble yourself and rethink what you believe about certain topics.

Listening takes time, patience, and denial of self.  When you are talking to somebody and want to put in your two cents, try holding your tongue and listen to the full story.  If we are quick to assume they are going to say something or believe something then you really aren’t listening, you are putting into their mouth what you think they believe they will say.

I know this is extremely hard but I want to challenge you to just sit with somebody today and listen to what they have to say.  Ask them questions and go deep with them.  You will learn a lot, show them you care, and be blessed by it.

Good on ya!