Listen

Mark 4.24. And he said to them, pay attention to what you hear. With the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you.

People just want to be listened to. I can’t stress this enough. We live in such a selfish time where we don’t want to take the time to listen to what other people are saying even when they’re sharing their hearts. We can’t wait for them to stop talking so we can give them our two cents worth. Maybe we have advice so we can fix them. Maybe we answer our phone while somebody is talking to us. Heaven forbid if we should let it ring and it go to voicemail.

People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

I have learned over the last year the more I listen the more the other person talks. This means that the other person has a better chance of getting freedom than if he or she doesn’t get interrupted by me to tell them what I think. When you interrupt somebody you take the chance of squashing their spirit or take away their opportunity for revelation. Obviously this is not always the case.

Today be conscious of your conversations with others. Make it a point to listen to what they’re saying, to look in their eyes, if you’re having lunch with somebody put your phone on airplane mode or even put it in your pocket and make it a point to not even look at it. It’ll be okay I promise. Think about this. Think about the last time you were having lunch with a friend and you’re right in the middle of a deep conversation and then they receive a text message and they immediately look at their phone and read it while you’re exposing your heart. How did that make you feel?