“Consider carefully how you listen.” Luke 8:18 NIV
“Listening is an art to be practiced, and a skill worth perfecting.”
My thoughts today are to “listen well.”
You learned to talk in the early months of your life, but for many of us it was quite a lot of years later before we learned to listen. Any mother or father knows that to be true. Hearing is a natural ability; listening is a learned skill. Listening is an art to be practiced, and a skill worth perfecting.
My wife could testify that it is possible for me to hear without really listening to what I hear. That can be more a fact of distraction or disinterest, than it is inability. There may be little wrong with your hearing, but a lot lacking in your listening. Success depends greatly upon your learning to discriminate in what you listen to and learning to listen well when you do so. “Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise. Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” Proverbs 19:20-21 NIV. Listening is the doorway to learning.
An elderly man in the leadership of our church once said to me, “Pastor, I do not hear as well as I once did, so I am learning to listen better.” Could that be true of you? His words, though spoken years ago, have challenged me spiritually many times. I want that to be more true in my personal relationship with God, and in practical ways in my everyday interaction with others.
The most important area for you to listen well is in your regard and response to Truth. There is a simple key to your conviction to do so: receive it as God’s Word – from God to you! “When you received the Word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the words of men, but as it actually is, the Word of God which is at work in you who believe!” 1 Thessalonians 2:13 NIV. Would what was said of the Christ-followers at Thessalonica accurately describe your regard for the voice of God in your life?
I have found a direct relationship between my regard for the speaker and my attention to their words. The more you value the person or the relationship, the more carefully you will listen and learn from what they say. If God’s Word does not hold its proper place in your daily life, then your relationship with God probably needs to be reexamined. Here’s why you need to listen well to what God says, “What gives life is God’s Spirit . . the words I have spoken to you bring God’s life-giving Spirit.” John 6:63 Today’s English Version. Listen with your heart, and gain understanding.
There is another thing I have learned about listening. Who, or what, you listen to will subtly shape your thoughts, beliefs, and actions. When Peter tried to deny knowing Jesus, his speech betrayed his denial, “You must be one of them (Jesus’ disciples), for even the way you talk gives you away.“ Matthew 26:73 NAS. Does the way you talk give you away in the best ways?
Choose well what you allow into your mind for it will find its way into your heart. You can often tell what a person reads (more so when people read more), what a person watches for news or entertainment, and what music a person enjoys by observing what they say and do. I want it to be said of me as was said of those first century Christ-followers, “They recognized them as men who had been with Jesus!” Acts 4:13 NLT.
My prayer for you today is to listen well to what is worth hearing.