Quick to Hear

Recently my family discussed high school superlatives. I was embarrassed to admit that I remembered the two that I received from my peers 40 years ago. I was even more embarrassed to acknowledge that my senior class voted me “Most Talkative.” My family laughed, and commented that they were not surprised. While their reaction was good-natured, internally, this characterization convicted me. I have wrestled with talking too much  since becoming a follower of Christ many years ago. After all, Proverbs says that “the mouths of fools are their undoing” (Proverbs 18:7). It is difficult to be a good listener if I am  too busy talking. As a follower of Christ I want to be a good listener, and to be known as a good listener. As I consider the current discord and polarization in our country today, perhaps considering the weight God places on  listening to others is a necessary reminder. 

Why should I be a good listener? God’s Word gives us several reasons. 

First, God listens to us. I find the fact that the God of the universe listens  as one of HIs most comforting attributes. 

“You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you”(Jeremiah 29:12-13).Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.

 “When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.”The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their cry” (Psalm 34:17). 

If we then are called to be Christ-like, shouldn’t we comfort others by genuinely listening as He does? 

Second, how can we really love our neighbors if we are not listening to them? Listening not only shows we care, but is the only way we can best learn how to serve and help others. And wouldn’t we all be in a better position to reconcile with others if we were listening to them? 

“This you know, my beloved brethren, but everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger” (James 1:19). 

How often am I slow to hear, quick to speak and quick to anger? How often am I only partially listening as I wait for my opportunity to speak? But genuine listening demonstrates that I think “others more significant than myself” (Philippians 2:3). 

Once we have demonstrated to others that we care by listening, we are in a more humble position for God to speak through us, and His words can be powerful instruments for His Glory. I think the Proverbs 31 woman has it right! 

“She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue” (Proverbs 31:26). 

The Proverbs 31 woman is not remembered for how much she said, (she would not have been voted “Most Talkative''), but by what she said. And, I’d like to conjecture that her words began from a listening heart, both to the Lord and to whomever He placed in her path.