Today’s New Covenant nugget is from James 1:19 (AMP)
Understand this, my beloved brothers and sisters. Let everyone be quick to hear [be a careful, thoughtful listener], slow to speak [a speaker of carefully chosen words and], slow to anger [patient, reflective, forgiving].
In today’s culture, many, if not most do not listen to others anymore… especially those who they fundamentally disagree with. People have become very quick to speak and sadly very, very slow to listen… when you watch a political debate, each one has his or her talking points, neither one actually listens, or even responds to the other, they just wait until their turn, and then start babbling their talking points.
This ‘culture’ of talking, but not listening to anybody that is not in your ‘camp’ has also infiltrated the church… this is a total ploy of the enemy to sow division and to block people from actually reasoning together, learning from each other and exposing deception.
Let me ask you, when last have you actually ‘listened’ to somebody that you do not agree with… as a conservative, when last have you listened to a liberal opinion… as a liberal, when last have you actually listened to a conservative opinion… as a believer, when last have you listened to a worldly, unsaved person’s point of view? If we do not actually listen, we cannot have empathy… if we do not listen to anybody in our own camps, we actually start living in a fishbowl.
I am not saying that we should ‘receive’ the deception of others… you can lovingly hear their heart without receiving their deception… another thing… sometimes an unsaved or a liberal person can actually speak truth, and say something in a way that will help you to grow as a believer. By listening you find out how you are perceived by others, and perception is everything!
Let me give an example… your friend says to you, “you are so selfish!” Now, you can immediately start your ‘talking points’ about how you are the most unselfish person in the world, or you can listen to their perception of you… reflect upon it… ponder on it, and then examine why you have come across selfish to them, even though, in your heart, you are not selfish.
By rushing to defend ourselves, or our point of view… by rushing to argue our perspective, or by rushing to judge the other person’s motive for even daring to say something that challenges us, we fail to truly examine how we are perceived by others, or if they may be right and exposing something in our own lives.
Jesus said that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks… by listening to somebody, you are hearing their hearts… when you refuse to listen, you are shutting yourself out and rejecting their hearts… this causes great hurt and further fuels the flames of hate, anger and division.
I am so challenged when others shut out my heart and refuse hear a word I say, so, many times, instead of helping them, I just remain quiet and then pray for them. When you position yourself as a loving, ‘open’ to the opinions of others, listener… then, I believe that what you sow, you will reap and others will begin to listen to you.
It is time for us to start hearing each other’s hearts… God gave us two ears and only one mouth… allow the Holy Spirit to teach you how to listen, how to love and how to embrace the hearts of those who you disagree with… then, agree to disagree if necessary… you can always embrace the person while rejecting what they have said after you have heard them… selah!
In His amazing Love, Nick
