HOW WELL DO WE LISTEN?

If we think about it, all of us fall short of listening well to what others have to say. We’re also guilty of not always listening to what God has to say to us. May 2018 be a year where we will make a diligent effort to hear His voice, through His Word, more clearly.

Eternal Perspectives            by Sally Bair

Listening

As I age, my hearing is growing dimmer. Not only age affects my hearing. When I fly in airplanes, the air pressure causes my ears to pop and crackle and sometimes ache. Driving up and down steep hills does the same thing. So does yawning and even swallowing, both which help release the pressure in my ears.

I find it interesting that there’s a direct correlation between the ears and the mouth. Perhaps you’ve heard the saying: “You need to take the cotton out of your ears and stuff it in your mouth.”  In other words, shut up and listen. We probably all know people who talk much and listen little. How many of us are guilty of that, ourselves?

It’s hard to hear, sometimes, and it may have nothing to do with our physical ear. It may have much to do with what we want to hear. Tests prove that sometimes we hear only what we want. Line up ten people and let them pass a story from one to another and, by the time it’s finished, it comes out entirely different from its original version.

You may relate to one of my own bad habits, that of listening to part of a story and then interrupting to be sure everyone knows about my own experience about it or how I feel about it. Habits die hard, sometimes, and that includes the habit of interrupting just so we can be heard. It all comes down to pride, one of the so-called deadly sins.

The Bible is filled with admonishments about the danger of not listening to God. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees, those stubborn of heart, because they didn’t listen to the truth of God’s Word. Citing Isaiah 6:9-10, Jesus said, “Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing and their eyes they have closed …” (Matthew 13:14-15) 

When we diligently listen to God’s Word or to His still, small voice, it becomes easier to truly listen when people speak to us. That translates into love.

As followers of Christ, we need to listen with open ears. Our hearts need to hear and our minds need to be free of distractions, pride and selfishness.

Lord, reveal to us today when we should speak and when we should listen. Let nothing affect our hearing of Your Word and Your still small voice. Cause us to hear with an open heart of love rather than with selfish motives. In Jesus’ name, amen.