This week's "Reflection" by Jeff Taylor, Pastor of Teaching & Worship
Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. (James 1:19)
Those are three very difficult things for me to live out in my life, but I have also seen that when these things are put into practice, relationships flourish!
This week I want to challenge each of you to think of a situation or relationship where you can implement silence for the purpose of being a better listener and hearing others out. Consider a relationship where maybe you have done most of the talking and have forgotten to try and understand what the other person may be trying to say. Maybe some of these situation or relationships have produced anger and need to be mended through prayer and good communication.
James tells us that if our “religion” is only theoretical and not being lived out, that it is worthless. This means that true religion is not about going to church or reading the Bible, but what you do with what you hear and read. Take some time this week and examine your “religion” and see if it stands up to the test of real life application. Have a great week!
Those are three very difficult things for me to live out in my life, but I have also seen that when these things are put into practice, relationships flourish!
This week I want to challenge each of you to think of a situation or relationship where you can implement silence for the purpose of being a better listener and hearing others out. Consider a relationship where maybe you have done most of the talking and have forgotten to try and understand what the other person may be trying to say. Maybe some of these situation or relationships have produced anger and need to be mended through prayer and good communication.
James tells us that if our “religion” is only theoretical and not being lived out, that it is worthless. This means that true religion is not about going to church or reading the Bible, but what you do with what you hear and read. Take some time this week and examine your “religion” and see if it stands up to the test of real life application. Have a great week!
This one's close to home Jeff. I struggle with this a lot. It seems like listening is a lost art. We just went through James in our Thursday morning Men's Bible Study and I was convicted about this as well. Your description of your discussions with Laura are just like Krista and I. I've already laid out my next ten points before she gets to respond to my first one. Wish I could do that in Chess :) James is a very important and critical book for our walk.
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