Choose To Listen

A [self-confident] fool has no delight in understanding but only in revealing his personal opinions and himself. (Proverbs 18:2, AMPC)

Life today is filled with so many choices that, sometimes, we find it overwhelming.  The challenge of choice is to choose the path that leads to our desired destination or result. Christ came to earth to live, die, and rise from death that we might have the opportunity to choose Him as our personal Savior and have our sins forgiven.  This choice restores our relationship with Father God and allows us to live life in fellowship with Him. Fellowship with God through Jesus Christ provides access to constant help and assistance in doing His will daily.

One of the many choices to be made every day is choosing to listen with the purpose of understanding.  In our marriages and other relationships, we find ourselves trying to communicate with others without really listening to them.  Typically, while talking to someone, we are already formulating our response without focusing on what they are actually saying.  Proverbs 18:13 (AMPC), says,  He who answers a matter before he hears the facts—it is folly and shame to him. When we find ourselves sitting on the edge of our chairs, perched, just waiting  for someone to finish talking so we can express our thoughts, this is the time God reminds us that a fool does not delight in understanding but only in revealing their own mind. This is the time to choose to listen to understand, with God’s assistance.

Ask God to help you learn to listen without interrupting the person who is speaking.  Interrupting others is a habit that’s detrimental to listening.  If we can practice listening without interruption and then share what we believe we have heard, this will allow confirmation of what was said by the speaker.  The talker can then, possibly, correct any reception errors allowing you to properly respond from a position of understanding. This is basically “Listening 101”.

To have a real conversation requires both parties to listen to each other. If you find yourself trying to converse with someone who appears to not be listening to you, perhaps you need to examine yourself to determine the reason why.  To discover the reason you are not being listened to, may require you to ask God to help you search your heart and thoughts to uncover bad habits, unkind word or critical attitudes that may be causing them not to listen to you.  God can help us to be the type of people others desire to hear and be worth listening to.  Proverbs 10:11 says, The words of the godly are a life-giving fountain;…

Choosing to listen and to be heard is essential to successful communication.  God wants to help you to have good communication with your spouse and others.  Allow God to be your partner in evaluating any hindrances to your listening skills or to having others listen to you. Listening is a valuable skill once it’s learned, but it takes a great deal of practice. (Adrian)