Fighting to Listenናሙና

Quick Listener

Listening is an essential and often overlooked part of communication. We all strive to be seen and heard, but it’s easy to forget we must also strive to hear what others say and how they see things.

When we refuse to listen to others, we only see one way—our way. Odds are, we do not have a monopoly on the truth. Even if our facts are correct, there is something more important than just knowledge: loving someone by hearing them.

Ignoring someone who is trying to communicate with us leads to their wrath and anger. When we’re not heard, we can become incensed. We raise our voices. We manipulate arguments in our favor, and our insecurities feast on our souls, and chaos forms like a tornado. We try to displace it, blame the other party for their inability to listen, or make everyone around us hurt in equal measure. 

It is easy to see how this kind of anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. The Greek word translated as “righteousness” includes the idea of community and harmony. Listening leads to harmony; frustration and anger do not.

When we refuse to listen to others, we become trapped by our ideas. If we cannot listen to others, it probably means we cannot listen to God either.

When we make an effort to listen, slowing down the fleshly impulses of our pride, we can hear what others have to say and see how they see things. That very practice opens the door for us to get to know God better.