Listen/Silent

"The biggest communication problem is we do not listen to understand; we listen to reply."  Anonymous

An interesting thing happened to me the other day.  Someone approached me and asked me a question.  When we first started talking, I appreciated the inquiry, but after I answered the first initial question the conversation went into an entirely different direction.

All about them. 

I stood there for approximately five minutes listening to this person share their similar circumstances.  At first, I paid attention to every detail, but then little snippets of verses began popping into my mind.

Ecclesiastes 5:3b, 'and a fool's voice is known by multitude of words.'

Proverbs 29:11a 'A fool uttereth all his mind:'

Ecclesiastes 5:2b 'therefore let thy words be few.'

I began to grow weary of the conversation and found that my ears were no longer hearing what this person had to say.  I finally smiled and excused myself from the conversation.

As I walked away, I asked God, "Can I have a conversation with others, without inserting myself?" because when you really think about it, there is no new thing under the sun.  (Ecc. 1:9) When you talk among a group of people, you will find that we have all experienced the same thing at one time or the other.  The question is, do we really need to share that fact?  We need to discern when to listen, and when to be silent.

James, 1:19 says, "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:"

When I ask someone a question, I want them to know that I'm asking because I care about them, not because I want to tell them about me.

    ...but that's just me!

"Listen and Silent are spelled with the same letters...think about it."  anonymous

"When I'm thinking about an answer while others are talking-I'm not listening."  Anonymous