"So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ."
Romans 10:17 NLT
The thing is, do we listen properly? Do we actually take on board what someone is saying to us or, do we hear some of the conversation and paraphrase the rest? This is dangerous stuff because, we can so easily get things wrong. Eve got things totally wrong when the serpent was talking with her in Genesis 3. Obviously, Adam had explained to her the rules laid down by God in the garden but, she had not listened properly and told the serpent that they could not even touch the tree in the middle of the garden. This error led to the serpent tricking her and then all was lost.
It's imperative that we hear properly what is being said. One of the main problems is, we tend to speak too much and listen little. Mark Twain addressed this with his infamous quotation:
'If we were meant to talk more than listen, we would have two mouths and one ear'
Just focus on that statement for a moment. If we are too busy talking, we have little chance of hearing properly what someone is saying to us. As I have said, this is dangerous stuff. It was dangerous for the whole world when Eve didn't listen properly and, it may be for someone who is trying to tell you something. Take for example, a person may be trying to tell you that they, or someone close to them is at risk. If you are not hearing them properly, you may start saying, 'Oh, this happened to someone I know and they had to ring the police etc. etc.' This may have been so but, the person doesn't want to hear this, they are making a serious disclosure to you and you are not listening properly.
How on earth are we going to hear God if we are so busy talking (Praying) and He can't get a word in at all. We need to pray, of course we do, but, some people can make it a marathon and monopolise the whole prayer time. Ironically, the prayers they have been praying may have been answered but they hadn't heard God at all.
When it is obvious that someone wants to talk to you, give them dignity. Listen to them, possibly with the third ear, which means 'what are they trying to tell me here?' Don't interrupt or speak until you have to and then only to feed back like, 'So what you are saying is -' The person will then know that you are trying to fit into their shoes by your empathy.
You don't have to be a counsellor to listen to someone with dignity, but you do need to talk less. So make it a habit that you are willing to listen properly. This way, you're more likely to miss nothing
Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.
dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com
Member of the National Association of Christian Ministers
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