“Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:”‭‭James‬ ‭1:19‬ ‭KJV‬‬

http://bible.com/1/jas.1.19.kjv

Ever hear the old adage? “God gave you two ears so you can listen twice as much as you speak.”  Now before you stop reading, hear me out(no pun intended).

As ministers and leaders this weekend lets really hear our brother and sisters real need.  Go past the “I’m fine” and hear what the spirit is telling you. I’m going to share a story , I had a guy at work come up to me and said he needed to talk, we went to the flight line and he began to tell me that his mom was sick, he went into detail on how the doctors were checking out the lab work and later explained the painful process of recovery, if she survived the surgery. I tried to reassure him that everything would work out, though he shot down any form of hope.  More on that later……

When folks speak to us are we really hearing what their need is? Jesus had Pastor-ed in this way,  he preached the word but he also met the need, even to a fault.  He gave them spiritual bread, but also met their physical hunger.  We as followers of Christ are to meet both in order for the germination of their faith to take place.  For example, we can preach on getting out of drugs or stop dealing in sin but never meet the need by helping them to rehab or helping them find alternatives to sin is as bad as, giving  guns to solders without ammunition and sending them to the front of the battle hoping they will survive.  Sorry about the rant, back to my story.

BE QUICK TO LISTEN..

Finally I said. “Brother, do you mind if we stop this conversation and just prayed that God would have his way and that we listen and agree to what He says.” He agreed. That opened up a door for the Holy Spirit to do what the word has promised.  Sure enough , mom has since recovered and back to full speed. Why? Because I listened to what was the need. Which was pray and give the situation over to the Lord.

SLOW TO SPEAK …

Communication is actually threefold transaction between two groups.  I have learned that there are three phases of effective communication and they are Sending the message. Receiving the message and, the Interpretation of the message. All transactions are needed. Additionally,  If the triad is disrupted in either action to the remaining two?  The consequences can be grievous.  We combat this by first, listening to the message, getting a clear understanding of what was said and then, speaking. It is very hard to be slow to speak while listening to the dialog and formulating a response simultaneously .

Next  week we will look at becoming slow to anger. So please join me as I share my thoughts next Friday.  You are awesome Leaders and Pastors. You are blooming where you are planted and I firmly believe that the Lord is not done with you yet!  The best is on its way look for the harvest not the lack. Pay attention to the leading of the spirit,  not the empty pews. You are making it everyday don’t quit. I’m praying for you! What are your thoughts?