Our home of three is often filled with a lot of chatter and music. With two talkative parents, it is no surprise that our daughter also loves to talk and sing. Currently, this toddler vocabulary is hard to understand and doesn’t always make sense. Often, in the business of life, it is easiest to let her talk while continuing on the list of tasks in my day. But, every day I am learning that the less I listen, the more discontent she becomes, and the more I listen, the more content she becomes – and the better I understand.
Relationships require listening. I have found that, in my life, the friendships and relationships that are the strongest and have lasted the longest are the ones where we both learned to listen. When I am intentional to pay attention, I begin to realize that there are people around me every day who are desperate to be listened to and understood. For me, listening takes effort and requires laying down business and selfishness, to begin focusing on another person. It says in Philippians 2:2-4 (NASB),
Make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.
This holiday season, most of us will be around many people who may be lonely or hurting, and genuinely needing to be listened to and understood. They may be family, friends, or strangers, but they need a relationship with us. How can we be intentional with the people around us today and over the next few months to listen, understand, and enter into their world?
Sarah LeBlanc
Great Lakes Field Director
Inspirational