[Yellow Balloons Series] The Recipe for Victory Sample

The Surprising Power of Listening 

“The Christian life is not a playground, but a battlefield.” A preacher could not describe it better. In the New Testament, the apostle Paul encourages us to “fight the good fight of the faith” (1 Timothy 6:12) and to “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might” (Ephesians 6:10). Furthermore, he advises us to “put on the whole armor of God to stand against the schemes of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11).

There is a war going on inside our hearts that continuously challenges us to choose whether we will give control to our flesh or surrender to God’s will.

As James has already pointed out, temptation is not God’s fault. It is the responsibility of our lusts, the evil desires of our flesh. Although we are made in God’s image and have His Spirit dwelling in us, we are also cursed with a sin nature. That sin nature pits us not only against God, but against others. We want what they have. We desire to have power over them. We seek to control them.

Sin destroys relationships. It is the ultimate relationship killer. When we put our ego first, it stops us from understanding and truly listening to each other’s hearts. But God calls us to be quick to hear and slow to speak (James 1:19). We are called to listen to our brothers’ and sisters’ hearts in a quick manner. 

To truly listen to another person, we must first set aside evil desires. We must set aside anger at not getting our own way and see what the other person sees. We must walk in their shoes and understand their perspective.

When we do this, we are exercising an incredibly important skill – we decide to set aside the flesh for the sake of the spirit. Listening to other people actually prepares our hearts to listen to God and to hear his Word and transplant that Word into our hearts.

God is the Author of the Word of life which has been planted within us. The only thing capable of suffocating its fruit is ME: my flesh, my lusts, and my narcissism. One of the fruits of God’s life in us is a surprise: learning to effectively listen to others.  

Winning in God’s kingdom entails surrender. Surrender causes us to say, “Lord, thy will be done.” Surrender is trusting God and allowing Him to speak to us through his Word and our brothers and sisters. That is how you overcome the trials of life.