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WISDOM AS LISTENING - PROVERBS 1:8-19

I want to talk to you today about wisdom as listening.

The Bible says that we should be quick to listen and slow to speak. Now in Proverbs chapter 1 verses 8 through 19, it really sets up the entire book of Proverbs, this book of wisdom helping us apply the information in our life. It sets it up by pointing out in verse 8 that we should listen. In fact, it says that we should listen to instructions.

So today I want to talk to you about what exactly is listening. Now you don't have to be in a relationship very long to figure out that listening is key. And so you really want to understand what listening actually is. So it's actually five things.

The first thing that it is, is you have to perceive what is actually being said. And so there's a difference between what people say and then of course what they mean. And the way you get to that is by perception, by perceiving accurately the intent of what

is being communicated. So the first thing you want to do when you think about wisdom for your life, wisdom from God, which I've used this galaxy picture here, really the wisdom that founded the universe. First thing you have to do is you have to perceive what is actually being said to you.

Now the second thing that you're going to need to do is you want to listen intelligently. I really like this. The original word here, you dig into it a little bit, carries with it the idea of not just listening, but actually active listening, participative listening. Another commentator said that it's to listen intelligently. So the focus is again really understanding what is being communicated. And then the third thing when we talk about wisdom as listening is to consider. So the first thing that happens is you perceive what's being said. You're listening intelligently sort of on the edge of your seat for information that's coming to you, the idea that's coming to you. And then you want to consider. Now consider with it also carries with it this idea of like pondering, thinking deeply, which brings me to my next point. It really shares this concept of to reflect. So first you perceive, you intelligently listen, you consider what's being said, then you want to reflect, which is going to take a second. So again back to what I opened up with the Bible says that we should be quick to listen, slow to speak, because if you're actually listening, there's going to be a timeframe that's going to exist between when you heard it, and then of course our response. And that time gap there enters in this word, which means to reflect.

Third - You're going to want to reflect. You're going to want to think about what is being said to you. And then lastly to understand. You really want to understand if you're going to be able to develop wisdom in your life. Now when we think about listening, really we think that we're listening for the person that is speaking to us. I want to dig a little deeper. Really you're listening for yourself because the wise person, as we talked about last time, wisdom is collective intelligence. The wise person is able to really aggregate what is being said. And really when you think about and you interpret and you understand it, it really acts as a protective force for you.

So when God is trying to give us wisdom, when God is trying to help us, we're really listening for our own good. The wise person learns from the lessons, from the concepts, from the idea of others. There's also an interesting anatomy antidote. The reason why we have two ears, one mouth, our anatomy would suggest we're supposed to listen twice as much as we speak.

So this is just an understanding today of what actually listening means when we're talking about God. We want to perceive what he's saying. We want to listen intelligently to what God's saying. We want to consider what he's saying. We want to reflect on what he's saying because ultimately we want to understand what it is God is saying to us. And he has so many things to say to us each and every day.

That's why I do this. I believe every time we open the scriptures, it's an opportunity for God to drop something into our heart, to open up our minds and to engage in our spirit. Thanks so much for watching today. Until next time, I hope you have a beautiful day.