Apostle James says, “Know this, my beloved sisters and brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.” God created us with two ears and one mouth but often we speak before we hear or listen and that often gets us into a lot of trouble. There is much we can learn for the discipline of listening especially when it comes to the ministry and serving others.
Recently I read an article about a mom who picked up her 12-year-old daughter from school, and heard something for her daughter that changed the way she picked her up from that day forward. Her daughter told her mom; “Mom, I love it when grandpa or dad picks me up from school”. The mom asked her daughter what she liked about them picking her up and here’s what the daughter has said; “They both listen to me talk about my day and everything that happened in class. They don’t really give her much advice unless she asks for it and they aren’t distracted with phone calls or work stuff…etc”.
I learned the following things from the brief conversation between the mom and the daughter. The girl like her dad and grandpa maybe because
1. They both are good listeners.
2. They tried to understand her.
3. There were minimal distractions, and
4. They both respect the girl’s sharing and thoughts
Frankly, I had never thought of listening as an important subject by itself. But now that I am aware of it. I have been thinking back about the conversation that was wrong over the past few years and suddenly realized that many of the troubles resulted from me not listening. When I communicated with my family or brothers and sisters it was just a monologue and not a dialogue. I only expressed my idea or thought but I didn’t get theirs. It is interesting to me that I have considered so many facets of communication in the church but overlooked listening. I have concluded that it is the most important link in the church’s communications and it is obviously also the weakest one for myself.
When Solomon inherited the kingdom from his father, God asked him what he wanted. He replied “Lord my God, you have now made me king. You put me in the place of my father David. But I’m only a little child. I don’t know how to carry out my duties. I’m here among the people you have chosen. They are a great nation. They are more than anyone can count. So, give me a heart that understands. Then I can rule over your people”. Instead of asking for more power, to live for a long time, become wealthy or to have your enemies killed, Solomon asked for a listening heart and wisdom so that he could be able to take good care of God’s people.
I learned that I need God to give me a listening heart so that I know how to be sensitive to brothers and sisters’ presence so that I can build a good basic trust between each other in God’s faithfulness.
Matthew 11:15 “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
