Be Quick to Listen and Slow to Speak

Posted by Brian Tubbs Feb 17, 2009

People have feelings and opinions. And people want to express those feelings and opinions. And this desire to "express ourselves" is what often leads us into trouble. Why? Well, it's because we're often more concerned about getting our point across and correcting the "wrongs" that we see, than we are in listening to anybody else.

About two thousand years ago, James (the half-brother of Jesus) wrote: "Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to wrath" (James 1:19). Such great advice! Too bad more of us don't heed it.

In The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey puts it this way: "Seek first to understand, then to be understood."

We need to be less concerned with whether people hear and understand us, than we are with rather we hear and understand them. We need to listen more and talk less. Remember...we have two ears and one mouth. That should tell us something.