Msg #1408 Listening Skills

What The Bible Says

Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice 

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.(Phil. 2:5) The mind God speaks of here is a mind of comforting love, fellow-shipping spirit, and bowels of mercies.(Phil. 2:1) Doing what he asks fulfills our joy,(2:2) and ignoring what he asks, produces selfish strife and vain glory.(2:3) This concept is of paramount importance when addressing our daily conversations. Crippled communication, the downfall of any relationship, is most exasperated in the marriage relationship. An unconscious judgmental fault finding attitude invades each of us. We become insensitive, critical, impatient fault finders and nothing hurts a spouse more than such critically impaired communication. Conscious repair and maintenance of our communication skills comes about by letting the mind of Christ be in you, and fixing your listening skills. Normal listening is only 20% efficient. Thirty if you shut off the tv, radio, video, computer or any other distraction. Forty if you maintain eye contact throughout the conversation. Fifty if you listen with your heart as well as your ears. Sixty if you do not interrupt or jump to conclusions. Seventy if you repeat what you heard her say. Eighty if you break silences to keep them from becoming negative feed back, using approving eye contact, smiles and a squeezed hand with your nonverbal communication. Ninety if you learn to show appreciation and thankfulness for what she just shared with you and avow never to break that confidence to another. And your listening skills will surge to 100% when all your nonverbal responses say “what you have to say to me is important to me because you are important to me.” All of us could move our listening skills up a percentage or two. Husbands should not surge to the 100% level overnight, you will give her a heart attack.

An Essay for week #8 02/23/2014

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