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Written by Amanda Santos, volunteer with Iron Rose Sister Ministries in João Pessoa
When I was a child, my mother always said, “God gave us two ears and one mouth because we should listen more and speak less.” Although most of the time she was just reprimanding me for being a child who talked too much during classes and services, she was paraphrasing James 1:19: “My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry” (NIV).
Today's theme says that “listening is an altruistic act.” If we search for the meaning of altruistic we find that it refers to someone who cares about others and acts voluntarily to benefit them. The Bible contains several verses that talk about altruism such as Philippians 2:3-4: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of others." And John 13:34b says: "Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." The act of listening is the same as loving.
We live at such a busy pace that we even set audio messages we receive on communication platforms at advanced speed to hear and solve things faster. How many times do we watch a video of a class, even a sermon, and put it on “2x” because the faster we listen, the better? It seems like stopping and listening carefully to what someone else has to say will cost us so much. I put myself in this position. I've always liked to do things quickly, think quickly, and resolve things quickly. How many times have I chosen a cooking video to watch, and before the cook got halfway through the recipe, I decided that I had already heard everything I needed and could make the rest myself. Almost every time, I failed and had to go back and watch the video again to find out where I went wrong.
I remember a teacher who asked me a question in class: “Did you hear what I said, Amanda?” and I promptly answered yes. Then she asked again: “Okay, but did you listen to what I said?” Maybe at first you will have the same reaction as I did, “But aren’t those the same thing: hear and listen?” And the answer is no. Hearing is the capture of sounds by the ear, a mechanical and natural process that does not require interpretation. But listening is the action of paying attention, understanding and interpreting what is heard, and making use of it. How many times have I heard people but didn't listen to them?
It takes effort, attention, and dedication to fulfill the role of listener.
Effort is required because we need to break this bad habit of speeding things up. If you've gotten used to hearing everything very quickly, you'll find it strange and even uncomfortable having to listen to someone who speaks slowly. So yes, we need to put in effort to be good listeners.
Attention is necessary because our mind easily takes us away from the conversation. We remember that we didn't take the clothes off the line, we forgot to defrost the meat, or so many tasks that if we are not centered and paying full attention, our mind will ramble and we won't actually be listening to our sister.
And of course, listening takes dedication. Colossians 3:23 says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.” We need to dedicate ourselves day after day to being good listeners. Remember, listening to your brother or sister in Christ is an act of love. It is an act of service to the Kingdom of God.
When we are willing to listen to what a sister has to say, we are giving her a safe and trustworthy space where she can share her problems, confess her sins, and share her prayer requests with God. Being open to being that person who listens with an open heart and loves her sister is serving the Lord. If a sister comes to you to talk, she believes she will be in a safe place, without judgment, and with lots of love.
May we be attentive and available to be God's instruments in the lives of our brothers and sisters, and may our ears be open to listen to what they need to tell us. May our hearts be ready to love and exhort when necessary. And may only the Word of God come out of our lips.
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Written by Rianna Elmshaeuser, volunteer with Iron Rose Sister Ministries in Colorado
One of the most comforting memes I’ve ever seen says, “When God put a calling on your life, he already factored in your stupidity.” When God calls us to something, it can be exciting and terrifying all at once. Feelings of “I want this but I have no idea what I’m doing,” and ”What if I mess it up and souls are lost because I was mistaken about my calling” race through our minds. To put my favorite meme another way, God knows everything about you; good and bad, your level of competence, the family you’re from, the church you attend, your deepest fears and failings, the questionable and sometimes destructive patterns in your life. He looked at all of that and He said, “You. I pick you.”
When God called Isaiah in Isaiah 6, the prophet was distressed because he wasn’t perfect and had sinned. After pointing this out to God, Isaiah was cleansed of his guilt and sins. God called again and Isaiah said, “Here am I. Send me!” (Isa 6:8b NIV). If we have obeyed the gospel and are followers of Christ, we are in the same position as Isaiah. I know people like Isaiah who have something put on their hearts by God and are able to seize the opportunity placed before them without hesitation. God says, “Jump,” and they say, “How high?”
I wish this were the case for me, but it is not. On the spectrum of taking a leap of faith, I fall a lot closer to Moses than I do Isaiah. Let’s look at Moses’ calling by God which started with a miracle and goes on for two chapters. After witnessing the miracle of an ever-burning bush, Moses is told to go to the elders of Israel and convince them, who already believe in God, to go to the king. God tells Moses exactly what he should say and what God will do to convince Pharoah to let the Israelites go. I want to pause and just note that, wouldn’t that be great? Not only would you have a whole crowd of people with you to confront the most powerful king in the world at the time, but God says, “Here is the game plan and how the future will play out.”
Moses argues and argues even after more miracles are performed for him until God gets angry. He is being told to speak again and again and again by Almighty God of whom he has the good sense to be very afraid and he still asks Him to send someone else. But in Exodus 4:14, we see that God already knew that Moses, in addition to being the meekest man that ever lived, had an unmatched and unrivaled fear of public speaking for all of time.
Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses and he said, ‘What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and he will be glad to see you’”. (Ex 4:14)
God wanted Moses to trust Him, but He knew how hard that would be, so He called Moses’ brother out to the wilderness before His conversation with Moses.
It is easy to look at Moses’ story and shake my head in awe at his stubbornness. But then when I look at my own life, I know that I need constant reassurance from God in my calling. God is patient and faithful and always provides it, but when will I push Him too far? Take a look at your own life. Is there something that you feel pushed to do but have found reason after reason after reason not to do it? God has demonstrated and documented His ultimate power for all of us yet somehow we manage to believe that He cannot overcome our individual personality flaws.
I recently started my Master’s program to become a counselor and on the first day of class, the professor asked everyone why they chose Denver Seminary. The stories everyone told were fascinating. There were people from Asia, the Caribbean, Central America, South America, and all over the United States. Each person had a unique story. Some were not sure exactly how they wound up at this school. Some had dreamed of coming there. There was one person who had desperately tried to leave the area to get away from home but wound up five minutes from her house.
What I am taking away from the stories shared and from Isaiah and Moses is that when God puts a calling on your life, trust Him. He knows what He’s doing, and He picked you for a reason.