So, is every man willing to listen, late to talk?(James 1:19 ARA)
Do you listen to people with patience and attention? At the conference “Listen, the essential capacity of the advisor”, Randy Patten challenges us to live this tiago text in our council. Pattern reminds us that many times, because counselors are skilled in teaching, they end up rushing to speak. There are several reasons why we are willing to listen and we are slow to speak.
1. Delight God in obeying His Word (James 1:19b);
2. For words may obscure or lighten (Pr. 18:4);
3. Take what is in the heart of the person (Pr 20:5);
4. Avoid difficulties caused by presumption (Pr 13:10);
5. Be wiser (Pr 18:15);
6. For listening can be a manifestation of love (Phil 2:3. 4).
1. Delight God in obeying His Word (James 1:19b);
2. For the more you speak, the more likely you are to sin (10:19);
3. This is evidence of moral and spiritual growth (James 3: 2-12, especially v. 2);
4. Avoid unnecessary difficulties in life and ministry (21:23);
Tips:
An excellent advice I’ve heard here is ‘asking open questions’. Open questions are questions that cannot be answered with a simple “yes or no”. Examples:
2. Listening carefully to a person involves bodily postures. Below are six nonverbal clues that show you’re actually listening.