Whoever has ears should listen. — Jesus
Matthew 11:15 (NIRV)

This week we are focusing our attention on the skill of listening in communication with God, ourselves, and others. As we covered yesterday, the goal of communication is love, honesty, and trust (1 Timothy 1:5). As the heart of the word "communication" is communion or "coming together as one," it takes patience, focus, and feeling. I want us to explore for a moment this statement of Jesus about listening.

"Whoever has ears should listen" is stated by Jesus a number of times in the Gospels and a number of times in the Revelation. This particular exhortation comes at the end of the parable of the soils, which speaks of how prepared a heart is to pursue the Kingdom of God. In the same way and in all of our communication, it takes an open and prepared heart to build intimacy.

There are three aspects of listening to note in this statement. The first is "whoever." The skill of listening is open to anyone who is willing to grow in their communion with God and others. It takes a heart that is open to building intimacy. If we are not in the receiving mode, we may miss building our relationships.

The second aspect has to do with those who "have ears." This is a curious way to make a direct plea for understanding the magnitude of the words of others. It is obvious that they (we) all have ears, however, when we are conversing, there is a difference between hearing and listening. Too many times we hear others without listening. Through distraction, hurry, self-centeredness, bias, etc., we miss building our relationships.

The last aspect has to do with the discipline and practice of listening. The original text is emphatic. "Do this." Listen. It is also in the present active tense which means, "listen and keep on listening. This reminds us that as followers of Christ, we need to cultivate a heart of listening to God and others.

As we talked about yesterday, listening is a difficult challenge in communication. It requires lots of patience, lots of love, and seeing beyond the words to the heart. May we go beyond "hearing" in our practice of loving one another and truly "listen" to the heart of God and others. Have a great day!

Love, Pastor Stuart