A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
– Proverbs 15:1

When you are filled with a sense of justice and want to change something, oftentimes you speak with all your might while failing to listen to others. On the other hand, when you lose your passion and interest in everything, your mouth won’t open yet your ears are still blocked, lol.

That’s why listening is so important! Listening is what enriches our hearts and enables us to give a gentle reply. Also, (not referring to speaking when you want to speak, lol) when you hold the feeling of “I want to understand what the person in front of me is trying to say,” passion will be born in your life.

If you want to bring peace into your family, your marriage, your friendship, your church, your workplace, your region, your country, or your world, before saying the right thing, first lend a listening ear. That’s the shortest path to peace, for without it, true peace cannot be born.

Today, I want to share with you the three voices you should lend an ear to before you decide your response in a conversation.

1. The person you are conversing with

This is such an obvious answer, lol. Despite this, the people who actually listen carefully to their conversational partner may be very few in number. For instance, when they’re thinking of a response to something, or when they’re thinking about the next order of business, it’s common that their ears are not used to listening to the speaker.

Listening to the voice of your conversational partner is not something that happens naturally, for it is an action that must be done intentionally.

That’s why I always tell myself to “LISTEN!” before I have a conversation with others. I easily forget otherwise, lol.

2. Yourself

And next, we should listen carefully to what our hearts say. Getting across our true feelings to the person we are speaking with is also a part of listening.

3. God

However, before we go right ahead and deliver our feelings to our conversational partner, I want you to think about what God is trying to say.

How?

Try opening the Bible! There, we can understand God’s feelings. If that’s too difficult, you can try confiding in a Christian friend first.

I’d like you to consider listening to God’s voice an important part of your life. By accepting God’s voice into our lives, we have the power to change our feelings of anger, hatred, and the various emotions that lead to conflict and turn them around 180 degrees.

Today, when you want to say something, you may be feeling riled up. However, nothing good will be born of speaking with those riled up feelings. During those times, you’ll be able to reshape that sharp reply into a gentle reply when you obey God’s voice to “Forgive!” and “Let go!”

Also, that gentle reply has tremendous power to quell the other person’s heart.

By becoming “a person who lends an ear” to others, you can calm many conflicts. Don’t just endure in anger, but listen. When you listen, you will be able to see the gentle response you should say to resolve the conflicts!

Everyone, “Let’s listen!” Lol.

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
– Proverbs 15:1

Nobuki