Listening
by Erik Carlson
|
|
"Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger."
James 1:19
|
Listening. “Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.” I must admit reading this text brings me back to my childhood. When I read it, I hear my father saying, “Listen to and follow directions.” He would always say that to me, because in my report cards in elementary school I would always get an N. The “N” stood for “needs improvement.” Now, looking at any of those report cards everything on a first grader's report card should read N across the line, hoping everything improves. Realistically though, I really needed to improve my listening skills from when I was a kiddo. I did not do much listening at all; I was too busy doing whatever it was that caught my wandering attention at that moment. It is a skill that took me a long time to develop, and frankly am still developing today.
As I grew up in middle school and on into high school I naturally got better at listening, just for the simple fact that my brain slowed down and I realized other people had important things to say and teach me. When I started making close friends, listening became an absolute necessity. If you are friends with someone, listening to them talk is so important, it can be one of the biggest relationship building things we can do. When I started working at my church, leading Wednesday night school, and being a Bible camp counselor, I had to take my listening skills to the next level.
|
|
|
Listening is a skill we should never stop working on. When Kari and I were going through our pre-marital counseling, we had a conversation with our counselor about needing some kind of gimmick; like holding a pencil to denote who’s turn it was to speak, because I would do too much talking. It is something I must actively work on every single day. When we get done with each workday and ask how the day is going and we need to vent to one another, it is so important to be able to just stop and listen to each other.
It says it so perfectly in James, “let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak.” If this were my dad saying it to me at a baseball practice, it would sound a bit more like this, “Erik shut up and listen.” I am smiling as I write this, because I know it is true, and I would say it to all of us, sometimes we just need to shut up and listen. Usually once a week, maybe more maybe less depending on how busy my brain is I just completely try to empty it during a prayer time. I set aside 5-10 minutes of prayer and do everything I can to just empty my head of all the unnecessary thoughts and just listen to what God has to say. If I find myself struggling to empty my brain I just keep saying “Jesus” until it is empty of thoughts and then have some great prayer time just listening for God. So, as it says in the book of James, not how my father would say it, may you be quick to hear, and slow to speak.
In peace,
|
|
