Listen AND Understand

At the end of the sermon yesterday we challenged you all to start listening better...actually we challenged you to RELEARN how you listen. Today, I just wanted to remind you all that there are certain things that you can do to improve your listening skills. We went over them on Sunday, but let me go over them one more time here in case you weren't with us, or forgot to write them down.

First, you need to make sure that you are listening to people with your eyes open. Look at them when they're talking. Make sure that you see what they are saying with their bodies as well as their voices. Sometimes we hear a whole lot more when we watch what someone is doing with their hands, eyes, feet and head. So watch people as they speak to you.

The second thing we mentioned was listening to the person so that you might truly understand what they are trying to say. Far too often as we listen to people we are thinking more about what we're going to say rather than what they are actually saying. So to spend that time listening and actually taking the time to hear and understand what someone is saying is huge. I firmly believe that if we do whatever we can to actually understand what someone is saying, we can avoid so many of the relationship pitfalls that come our way.

Finally, we talked about following up on our conversations. So often we say, "Hey we ought to do such and such" or "We should tell so and so about this." And then we never do anything about because we get busy, or we just don't care that much. But the truth of the matter is that if we are really engaged in a conversation with people we care about, then we need to make sure that the things that we talk about, and the ideas that come from those conversations are followed up on. This will help all the people involved in the conversation to feel as if what they have said is important and valued.

So. Are you doing your best to keep focused in your conversations? Are you really listening and understanding what people are saying to you? Remember that when we seek to understand first, then it is that much more likely that we will be understood!

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And we'll see you Sunday!