Listening is powerful.
We need people in our lives who care enough to listen to our hearts and to our words.
We need people who want to understand.
The Swiss psychologist Paul Tournier wrote:
It is impossible to overemphasize the immense need humans have to be really listened to,
to be taken seriously, to be understood.
No one can develop freely in this world and find the full life
without feeling understood by at least one person.
Listen to all the conversations of our world, between nations as well as those between couples.
They are for the most part dialogues of the deaf.
Lovers are listeners.
Lovers listen.
Lovers listen with their ears and with their eyes and with their hearts.
Lovers listen because they care.
Lovers want to understand all that’s in the other person’s heart.
When we listen in this way,
we express love so powerfully that it brings healing to a wounded heart.
People who are listened to feel loved.
Hardly anything has quite the power to express love as the listening heart.
Henry David Thoreau once remarked,
“The greatest compliment that was ever paid me
was when one asked me what I thought and attended my answer.”
I think of God.
He is the Great Listener.
He is ever-ready to hear our cries.
Consider these words from David in Psalm 34:
The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry.
(v. 15)
The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them.
(vs. 17)
When we listen, we are like God.
No wonder God tells us to “be quick to listen, slow to speak” (James 1:19).
It has been well said:
“The first duty of love is to listen.”
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Printed text © 2012 WoodsEdge Community Church. All rights reserved.
This article may be reproduced for any non-commercial use.
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Thanks to my friend Cathie for sharing this email message with me.
Thanks to my friend Lucy for growing the beautiful roses I photographed on her front porch.
They are two wonderful friends with listening hearts!
♥ ♥
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