Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. – James 1: 19
Someone once told me that they didn’t want to hear what other people had to say about Scripture.
She reasoned that she only wanted to hear directly from the Word itself because people distorted the truth.
But on so many occasions, Scripture tells us that it is valuable to listen to other people.
Proverbs 12:15 says that fools think their own way is right but the wise listen to others.
And when Peter approached the carriage of the Ethiopian eunuch and asked him if he understood the Scripture he was reading, the man recognized that there would be no way to understand unless someone instructed him.
This is the case for all of us. No matter where we are in our walk with Christ, we all need others to help us understand the word.
We must also understand that the Holy Spirit dwells inside of everyone who invites Him into their hearts.
And God gives wisdom to all those who sincerely ask Him for it.
So if we shut ourselves off from listening to others, we’re stunting our ability to grow in the Spirit.
We have to be open to listening to what others have to say and treat them the way we want to be treated.
Because everyone who loves the Lord and is guided by the Holy Spirit has value to offer.
Be blessed,
Alexia
Prayer: God, help me to keep my heart and spirit open to receive the messages you send through your other children. Help me to never walk in arrogance, but in humility, understanding that it is better to listen and learn than to speak and be heard. In Jesus’ Name, I pray, Amen.
Thank you for sharing this. Just a week ago a coworker in our morning devotions was saying how she is not going to listen to other speakers bc they could be wrong and she is only going to read her Bible. I struggled with this bc I enjoy the teaching of a few people and didn’t really want to stop listening to them. Thank you for sharing this bc it makes sense, the Holy Spirit does indwell others and we are here on earth to share Jesus, but to also lift up each other. Iron sharpens iron. Love you sister!
Love you too sister!! I struggled with this for a while as well. But then I realized that there’s no point in going to bible study or church if we carry the mindset that we’re not going to listen to anyone. If that’s the case, we should all abandon meeting together and the bible tells us that’s not what we should do. From my reading, I internalized that God wants us to be open to receive what His Holy Spirit wants to pour into us.