Proverbs 18:13 (New International Version)
13 He who answers before listening— that is his folly and his shame.
How well do you listen? Here is the definition, "When the other person is talking, you are not thinking about what you will say when they quit talking." Oh my, I guess this is a good place to tell you that I have been sooo guilty of this, and I say "have", because I am learning. Why is so hard to listen? Do we want to sound as if we have all the answers and when they are finished, we are ready to respond? Could it be if there is a lull in the conversation it might appear we are not interested and so we just keep it going? Even our body language is important, research shows 65% of the message comes from non-verbal communication. How would we feel when we are talking to our Heavenly Father and He was to busy for us? I probably would not be talking to much. What good would it do. Of course, we know that is not true with Him. We have His undivided attention because of His love for us. I want to encourage you to really listen when someone is sharing with you, whether it be the weather or a burden on their heart. Listen and try not to think about what you will say, instead pray and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you and give you exactly what needs to be said. I am really going to work on this, remember God gave us "two" ears and one mouth, hummm, I wonder why!
