Is your goal in relational arguments to win the debate? That is actually harmful rather than something to celebrate. Pride goes before the fall - and fall we will, when we gain the reputation as a combative opponent rather than as a good friend and listener, who is humble, kind, thoughtful, and loving (Proverbs 16:18; Ecclesiastes 4:9-12).
God’s plans for our life include us influencing people concerning the saving knowledge of our Christ, the Lord Jesus (1 Timothy 2:4). He purposely came to earth to personally prevent us from reaping the destruction of our humanistic and carnal choices and to guarantee our eternal home in Heaven.
The only effort this takes on our part is to believe Jesus, and to walk away from our sins as we embrace Him as our Lord and Savior. We all need someone to listen to us, to take us seriously, to care about how we feel, and to desire to help us to change our circumstances if possible.
Jesus does this better than anyone. He abides within us, once we repent of our sins and ask Him to save us. We are never alone, never lonely, and always the apple of God’s eye (Hebrews 13:5; Psalm 17:8). In the life of other people that He brings into our sphere of influence, we can pass on to them His assistance for us.
Actively listening is always a good place to start. Most people do not fully listen when we talk. They do not even allow us to finish a phrase or our statement before they jump into the “conversation” with a monologue of their wisdom on the partial subject of our concern.
It is hard to find someone who will listen with empathy to our whole concern, and to pray with us about our issues. Truly listening involves our complete attention, not a half-hearted attempt to squeeze our words into their already buzzing mind.
Listening will make children, adults, even pets feel that they are truly cherished, especially if we do not have to wait for a commercial on TV to receive another’s attention, or their chatting on their phone to end, or their distracted behavior to refocus in order for them to really hear us.
Looking into the other person’s eyes makes them feel truly connected to us, and us to them. We can give our entire focused attention to the other person without any distractions, just as God is always available to share His undivided attention with us.
Prayer:
Father God, Your Word encourages us to be swift the hear, and slow to speak (James 1:19). Remind us that people need people who truly hear them, especially in these later times when the birthing pains for the Great Tribulation are all around us. We want to connect with our family, friends, neighbors, associates, workmates, and church family and to give them our undivided attention - to really care about each individual.
Help us to realize that we do not want to allow our mind to wander to another conversation close by or a person that we know better than the one speaking to us. We want each individual to see and feel Your presence in us, when they come to us with their concerns. We do not want to be standing next to them with our mind a million miles away from them. Thank You so much for Your continual presence within us, and for always listening to us in our times of need (1 John 5:14-15).
Thought for the Day:
We want to offer others our undivided attention, because this will alleviate their fear of us leaving them hurting worse than they did when they saw a glimmer of hope in the attention that we offered to them; God will teach us to be a good listener, and we can even read a book or take a class on how to improve our listening skills, rather than to be a good speaker that may win a debate or expound eloquently, but lose a friend.
