“He who answers before listening – that is his folly and his shame.” Proverbs 18:13
Today you will have another opportunity to listen. And today, many of us will again fail at this as we did yesterday and the day before.
Two ears, one mouth, one tongue, think about it.
We reverse that. We speak twice as much as we listen.
There is a scene from the movie August Rush, where the main character, a young teenager is walking through the streets of a busy city. He is surroundied by noises coming at him from many directions. To many it would be the confusing and disoriented sounds of an unsynchronized day in the life of the big city. Yet, as the sounds come alive to him he felt each one and they became a symphonic piece in his head.
I learned from that.
I like to observe listeners and talkers.
Listeners take in information, that is their purpose, to take it in, pause, think, then respond, thus making for a meaningful conversation.
Talkers, well, they just talk.
They are talking before the words even begin coming out of their mouth.
The beauty of the day will be found by practicing your listening.
I will guarantee you this. If today, you talk more than you listen you will miss part of what God had for you on this very day.
However, if you will listen to sounds, voices, words, etc. then you will have a much more fulfilled day.
Practice this today. In a conversation, focus on the person, their eyes, their body language and grab each word that comes out of their mouth. Hang on each word. Then pause, take it all in and respond.
And possibly, God will lead you to the very person who needed a listening ear.
Why do you think the Bible says multiple times, “Hear me when I call.”?
Because God is listening.
You do the same. You will see the affect it has on another person.
Wanna change a life? Wanna change the world?
Listen. And you will know what the world is trying to say.
JHH
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