Being a good listener takes patience, self-control

“And all the people listened attentively.” #8212; Nehemiah 8:3 (NIV)

I was in the middle of a phone conversation with a friend when I found my mind drifting off, thinking about the many things I had to do.

I'm not sure how many seconds had passed when I realized I'd hardly heard a thing she said.

I was brought back into the conversation when she questioned, #8220;Don't you agree?#8221;

My mind raced for the right response. What would I say to her, #8220; Uh, sure.#8221;

I figured I'd better respond in truth and ask her to repeat what she had just told me. After all, she may have said something vitally important and it was my responsibility to listen.

Have you ever been caught in an embarrassing encounter like that? It happens to all of us from time to time.

But at the end of this conversation, I felt like God was convicting me, #8220;What if that was the way I listened to you?#8221;

Oftentimes, we are well-meaning when we converse with others. However, our minds can wander off, distracted by other things or our own agendas.

Learning to listen is just as important to our ability to communicate as talking. Many people want to do all the talking and monopolize the conversation. They simply pass it off as having the gift of gab. But wisdom means balancing our communication skills by being a good listener as well.

Lending a listening ear takes time, practice, patience and self-control. It's acquiring the art of listening from the heart.

A good listener might repeat the facts back in kind to assure the other person they've heard what's been said. As a nurse, I often did this with orders doctors would verbalize to me to ensure I got the facts straight.

In this busy day and age, we like to multi-task while communicating. Sometimes it's appropriate to stop and sincerely listen to what someone has to say. And when we feel our minds drifting away during a conversation, it might be time to bring it to a close until we can control our wandering minds and give our full attention to what is being said.

I've heard it said that God gave us two ears and one mouth. Maybe we should give that some thought. It might be his way of showing us we were created to be good listeners.

#376; Annettee Budzban is a Christian author, speaker, life coach and nurse. She can be contacted at Annetteebudzban@aol.com.