Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger …

James 1:19

My dream job was teaching four and five-year-olds. Because young children cannot always say what they mean, an important lesson I learned was to look for the message behind the words, listen to hear what is really being said, and learn how to respond with empathy and understanding.

It’s been said that most people “listen to respond before listening to understand.” We are all guilty of this. Today more than ever, the importance of these words from James 1:19 ring true. To listen with a willingness to understand the perspectives of others, and to respond with empathy and patience rather than react with defensiveness and anger is to model the grace God Himself shows to us. It’s not easy, but “nothing worth doing is easy.”

Jane Wilke
Woodbury, MN

Dear Lord, teach me to listen with my ears, my eyes, and my heart. Guide my words to be those of empathy and understanding. Amen.

Reflect: Consider how you can practice listening to understand instead of listening to respond.

Read: Proverbs 16:21-24 and Ephesians 4:29-32