Recently our family was watching a movie together. In addition to the movie, there was conversation during the movie, my two smaller children were playing and I was surfing the internet intermittently with my laptop. There was a huge amount of noise and activity during this "family movie night."
This situation closely resembles our world today. We are constantly bombarded by many different voices, all competing for our time and our attention. Everyone has something they want you to read, buy or hear. We literally hear thousands of voices everyday. But have you stopped to consider to which of those voices you are really listening?
Believe it or not hearing and listening are two very different things. Hearing is a function of the ears. It is with the ears that we hear all of those voices around us. Listening, however, is something very different.
Listening is a function of the will. Listening is defined as paying close attention to or hearing with intention. It is through listening that we connect with the people around us. It is entirely possible to hear people but not really listen to what they are saying. You can set yourself up for sure failure if you do not connect with important people and situations around you because you hear but do not manage to listen.
Consider these three principles about listening.
1.) Listening allows you to understand the "heart" of a matter.
"For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks" (Matthew 12:34 ESV)
Listen long enough to anyone and they will reveal their heart to you. Everyone speaks out what is really in their heart. Listening always exposes the heart.
2.) Real listening requires you to put some things on pause
It is not humanly possible to really listen to every voice you hear in today's world. What things are you hearing now that you need to pause so that you can listen to the things that are really important. When is the last time you have really listened to your spouse, children, spiritual leaders, etc. What voices need to be put on pause in your life today?
"Wait and I will listen to what the Lord will command concerning you" (Numbers 9:8 ESV)
3.) If you fail to listen, you repeat the failures of the past.
"Then Moses answered, 'But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, 'The LORD did not appear to you.'" (Exodus 4:1 ESV).
Failure to listen causes us to miss opportunities. When we miss opportunities we return to the things that are familiar, the things we have always done. Patterns, bondages, etc. in our lives are broken when we listen to the opportunities that God sends us. These opportunities cannot just be heard...they must be heard with intention (listening).
Make it a point today to listen to the right voices in your life.
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