Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 3:00 — 4.1MB)
Communication is how we maintain a relationship—right? God started this. The Gospel of John begins with these words, “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.” In Spanish, the literal translation says, “in the beginning was the verb.” Yes, verb, meaning action word. God created everything and “spoke” it into being. And God is still speaking to us through His Word, communicating what is essential for us to have good relationships.
I love to talk. I mean I LOVE to talk. But that, at times, has hindered my relationships. Why? Because talking and not allowing others to talk is not a good way of communicating. Yes, some people do NOT like to talk a LOT. But even those who are less talkative need to express themselves and need to be heard.
The Bible says in James 1:19, “Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must ALL be quick to listen, slow to speak…” Many of you have heard that women talk more than men. Whether that is true or not I don’t know, but I do know that I talk more than my husband, Rod. And if we’re going to have good relationships, we must learn to do what James told us to do. Number 1: Be quick to listen. Number 2: Be slow to speak.
I’ve led a class for New Believers for many years now in my church. There was one young woman that would barely say “hello.” To say she was shy was an understatement. And to be honest her timidity was a bit irritating to me. She, however, never missed a class and slowly she started to send me texts with her questions. Good questions. Then the Lord showed me how disappointed He was with my attitude toward her. Her words were few but her hunger for the Lord was deep. I did not know how to listen to someone who doesn’t talk that much. Yet she wanted to communicate and learn more and more about Jesus. I’m so glad she sent me those texts that showed me her heart. In time she and her husband began to help in the children’s ministry. What a blessing this couple has been to our church body!
Proverbs 1:23 says, “Come and listen to my counsel. I’ll share my heart with you and make you wise.” The first time I read that carefully I couldn’t believe that God wanted to pour out His heart to me! Even the Lord says, listen and I’ll speak. He wants you and me to LISTEN!
As we learn to listen, first to the voice of the Lord, then to others, the Lord will give us the ability to communicate the way we should and our relationships will grow better and stronger.