Are You Really Listening?

James 19 - "Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger"

Proverbs 18:13 - "If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame."

Wouldn’t you think since God gave us one mouth and two ears that we would listen twice as much as we spoke?

I’m sure that was probably God’s intention, for us to listen more, and speak less, but as history shows throughout the Bible we often fall short of God’s instructions.

Through the years I have realized the urgency in developing my listening skills but I have not made it important.

Like the topic of prayer that we discussed last week, listening for me does not come easy. But as we continue to consider this idea to prepare in 2021, we must all become better listeners!

In the book of James, verse 19, - we are given these specific instructions...

"Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.”

Do you know one thing that comes out of thoughtful and intentional listening?

Legitimacy!

Yes, legitimacy.

Legitimacy in the eyes of those we give the gift of active and focused listening.

So why then do we withhold this precious gift?

Maybe because we think we have so much to share? Or because we are just modeling what the world embraces to be heard. To voice our opinion while possessing a disregard for others ideas. To essentially be the loudest in the room.

You may be asking “How do we stop this train?”

We start with us.

You and me.

First, with impressive empathy, we begin inside our own homes with our wives and children. We do this by acknowledging the need “to establish, fix, or apply,” ways to prepare intentionally, to practice our listening with those we love the most.

Otherwise, if we do not, we will only reap what it says in

Proverbs 18:13, “If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame.”

When I look in the mirror I want to see a man that has committed to becoming a better listener. I am wanting to avoid folly and shame.

I have much work to do. It’s time to prepare with both urgency and importance to better listen Today.

DADs...will you join me?

To God be the glory!

DADs - “get in the game”… Today is game day…and so is every day…God gives you! So…C’mon Men Suit Up!

Note:*For this new year of 2021, the combination of my age (understanding my own fragile mortality), this current and ongoing global pandemic, and most recently the personal loss I’ve experienced of one of my students, has amplified the need to land on one word... #Prepare.

In this "pursuit to prepare" I am determined to dedicate the 52 weeks of 2021 blogging every Week about one aspect of preparation God lays on my heart. This week 14 we talk about what it means to "prepare” to listen.

As mentioned in week 1, the word “prepare” means “to establish, fix, or apply.” It conveys the idea of deliberate effort over a prolonged period of time.

*Next week we will talk about what it means to prepare to fight for those things that matter most. Remember to pass along our blog to those you believe would benefit from our message.