“O Lord, You have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do.” (Psalm 139:1-3 NLT)
What’s the most memorable compliment you’ve ever received? After one of my first sermons in a new church I was serving, an elderly woman shook my hand and said: “O brother Hager, that’s one of the best sermons I’ve ever heard. There’s just one thing, you’ve got to speak up, I hardly heard a word you said.”
Ironically, it was one of the most helpful “compliments” I’ve ever received. It causes me to ponder the words above from David, and ask a question: “Lord, how can you know everything about me (us), yet, still love me (us)?” Could it be we have a distorted view of love?
As we look at the people in our lives, how many people do we genuinely love? And how many people in our lives genuinely and truly love us? How can we know for sure? Because they compliment us? Because they’re kind and caring? Because they tell us they love us?
Brian Goins wrote: “Someone once defined love as focus. It’s not enough just to hear words coming out of someone’s mouth—real connection is truly seeing someone and understanding their heart.” How can we know that God’s love is real? Brian continues: “God knows us because He pays attention to us. When we call, He listens. God never interrupts our prayers to like an Instagram post. One of the greatest compliments you can give one another is your undivided attention.”
May I confess? That’s hard for me. My wife (too) often says to me: “I need you to listen to me with your whole face!” Why does she feel the need to say that? Because I’m too easily distracted by things that don’t matter! I often ask her how she got so beautiful in only 72 years, but that’s the proverbial “babbling brook” if she doesn’t feel listened to when she speaks to me.
Do you want to love well? Yeh, me too. So, how can we learn to listen more effectively? Can we take our cues from God? Obviously, the Lord knows us, literally, inside and out, but what if we began to ask questions that would give us greater insight into the hearts and minds of those we want to love the most?
Jackie Hill Perry said: “Being mean isn’t a fruit of the spirit.” That’s the kind of quote that makes me smile while the Spirit opens my heart to the ways that I’m “mean” and don’t even realize it until after the fact. Hearing someone without acknowledging what they’re saying is important enough for us to listen is mean! Being busy doing something else while we should be focused on our spouse, child, neighbor, friend, _________, is mean! Professing love for Jesus and treating our friends and loved ones like the devil is mean!
May I pray for us? “Father in heaven, thank You for genuinely and precisely loving us. You are capable of listening to billions of people speaking at the same time, yet, giving each of us your undivided attention as though we were the only one to whom You were listening. By Your grace and with Your Spirit’s help, thank You for enabling us to learn to love well by learning to listen and be attentive to those who speak to us. Sometimes we think we’ve come pretty far in our walk with You, until, like today, we see how far we have to go. You are gracious, kind, loving, and gentle with us. Thank You for equipping us to be those things for the people we most want to love and for the people we least want to love. In Your holy Name, Lord Jesus, we pray. Amen”
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 