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Not long ago someone said to me, “You know the problem with him is he just doesn’t listen.” That’s a common problem lots of us have, isn’t it? One of the best things we can do to improve our relationships is simply to truly listen better.

James 1:19 tell us that we should be quick to listen and slow to speak. What great advice that is. Let me ask you, are you a good listener? You know, listening takes effort. You have to work at it.

One of my bad habits is that my mind wanders while people are talking to me. I find myself thinking about all kinds of other things instead of listening. Do you have that problem, too? Well, one way to help you concentrate is to take notes while you’re listening. You should also pray and ask God to help you remember to listen and not let your mind wander.

Also, there’s a big difference in listening and waiting for your turn to talk. Sometimes out of politeness we don’t interrupt people while they’re talking to us, but we’re not really listening because we’re thinking of what we’re going to say as soon as we get our chance.

You know, if you’ll listen better, you won’t jump to wrong conclusions so often, you won’t say something you regret, you’ll learn a lot more about those friends and truly get to know them if you’ll just make yourself listen to them when they’re talking to you. And while you’re listening, put yourselves in their shoes and try to understand them better.

James says we should be quick to listen. If a friend or family member indicates a need to talk to you, are you quick to listen? Do you readily put aside whatever else you’re doing, quickly, so you can listen to them? The Bible really gets down where we live, doesn’t it?

And then, we’re told to be slow to speak. Go easy with the words. If you talk a lot you’re bound to say something you shouldn’t. It’s a fact that women say many more words in a given day than men do. And let’s face it, we often say too much. We have a great need to communicate, but that has to be tempered with the Holy Spirit’s control of our words.

Becoming quick to listen and slow to speak is absolutely guaranteed to improve your relationships. Give it a try.