Communication
When Does Gossip Become a Problem?
September 27, 2022 by Relevant Magazine
“I am a gossip.
I have spoken words about others that have been unnecessary, unkind and sometimes even untrue. I have painted others with verbal caricatures that have been unforgiving and unflattering. More times than I would like to admit, I have needed to beg forgiveness from God and others for my speech..”
Ten Times It’s Wise to Hold Your Tongue
November 25, 2013 by Relevant Magazine
“1. When you have no idea what to say
Proverbs 17:28: "Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent."
2. When you're wrongly accused
1 Peter 2:23: "When he was reviled, he did not revile in return.”
Love Communicates
December 12, 2011 by Lou Priolo
“You’ve seen it a thousand times. Two Christians, members of the same family (or of God’s family), are trying to resolve a conflict when one of them shuts down right in the middle of the process. “What’s going on here?” you wonder. You’re not sure where to begin probing. “Is he angry? Is she afraid? Is it a matter of vengeance—is she purposely shutting down in order to pay back the other for some hurtful comment that was made earlier in the conversation? Has he never been taught proper biblical communication skills? Is she trying to avoid conflict, or, is it simply a matter of her choosing to not answer because she doesn’t know what to say?”
Ten Reasons to Listen to Questions Before You Answer
October 25, 2005 by John Piper
“If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame."
1) It is arrogant to answer before you hear. Humility does not presume that it knows precisely what a person is asking until the questioner has finished asking the question. How many times have I jumped to a wrong conclusion by starting to formulate my answer before I heard the whole question! Often it is the last word in the question that turns the whole thing around and makes you realize that they are not asking what you thought they were.”
Six Lessons in Good Listening
April 3, 2014 by David Mathis
“Listening is one of the easiest things you’ll ever do, and one of the hardest.
In a sense, listening is easy — or hearing is easy. It doesn’t demand the initiative and energy required in speaking. That’s why “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). The point is that hearing is easy, and faith is not an expression of our activity, but our receiving the activity of another. It is “hearing with faith” (Galatians 3:2, 5) that accents the achievements of Christ and thus is the channel of grace that starts and sustains the Christian life.”