Picture yourself sitting down with a friend and just opening yourself up to them, sharing personal things about yourself, your past, about how you wish you had a better relationship with your parents and how you wished that people knew the real you…then picture yourself in the middle of your most personal thought looking up only to find your friend texting.

Would you be pissed? I know I would.

That’s because when it comes to listening, just hearing and taking in information is not enough. When you truly listen, you SHOW that you are listening by making eye contact and giving the person your full attention. That’s because when you are truly listening to someone you are showing them that they are valuable to you. In a sense, listening is a way of showing that you care.

How important is listening? Well, one verse from the Bible that shows the affects of listening is one of my favorites from the book of James. It says,

“My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry”

Think about how life would be different if everyone was actually “quick” to listen and “slow” to speak. I know for a fact that if everyone did that there would be less meaningless arguments because you would be “slow” to become angry.

Another wise quote about listening is from Proverbs. It says,

“The way of the fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice.”

Mature people seek out advice from wiser people in their lives. They know that they can learn from the experiences of others. If you want help with a situation or even general guidance in life, then find someone you trust and can learn from, someone much older than you. Go and ask them questions and then just shut up and listen to them.

Once you get into a habit of listening first then speaking, you’ll soon realize how much wisdom you’ve been passing up all these years.

-Eric Kuehl