YOU WOULD THINK THAT WITH TWO EARS AND ONE MOUTH, WE'D ALL BE TWICE AS GOOD at listening as we are at talking!
But not so. Research shows that we usually listen to only 20% of what others say to us. Yet good listening is one of the easiest
most important ways to be successful -- whether it's in our job, our marriage, with our children, or with our friends.
There are three important things we need to do when we listen to others.
The first is observation. Use your eyes and look at them. It's just common courtesy and respect. Take your
eyes off the TV, newspaper, or whatever else, and give that person your attention.
The second part of listening is concentration. Many of us are guilty of looking someone in the eye, pretending
we're listening, when our mind is actually miles away. Also, when someone's talking to us, we shouldn't interrup them, or
just be thinking about what WE want to say. Hear the out. Listen to everything they have to say before you respond.
The third, and probably the most important, part of listening is consideration. This means using your heart.
Really care about what that person is feeling or going through. Don't just hear the person's words, but try to understand
their feelings. People usually know if we're really interested and care about what they're saying. This means we're even willing
to cange something about ourselves if it's hurting them.
Jesus said that if we really listen and understand what He's told us, then we'll acutally change and start
doing it. Let's ask Him to help us care enough to realy start listening to others, and along the way find the success in realtionships
and work that only comes with being a good listener. --- John Stanley
"Accept each other, just as Christ accepted you. *Be kind to each other ... and honor each other more
than yourselves. *Be tenderhearted, kind, humble, gentle, patient; bear with one another and forgive one another ... as the
Lord forgave you. With all this have love, which binds it all together ...*Behold, how good and how pleasant it is ... to
dwell together in unity." ROMANS 15:7; ROMANS 12:10; COLOSSIANS 3:12, 13, 14 BECK; PSALM 122:1 KJV
WE ALL NEED ENCOURAGEMENT. We can live without it just as a young tree can live without fertilizer, but
unless we receive that warm nurturing, we never reach our full potential, and like the tree left to itself, we seldom bear
fruit. --- F. Littauer
