Listen to Learn and Be Changed
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Jan 31, 2026
- Listening Is the Primary Pathway of Personal Transformation
- God shapes us more through grace than striving, more through reception than toil.
- Listen well to those who are speaking.
- We cannot be formed by what we refuse to hear.
- “… Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak …” James 1:19 NIV
- Selective listening leaves us stuck and unchanged.
- Poor Listening Protects the False Self
- We often listen to confirm what we already believe.
- Defensive listening protects what we believe and resists exposure, correction, and growth.
- True listening requires humility and surrender.
- What we won’t hear determines where we won’t grow.
- “You will be ever hearing but never understanding…”
— Matthew 13:14–15
- Jesus Models Listening as Submission, Not Passivity
- Listening precedes clarity, authority, and fruitfulness.
- Jesus listened to the Father to align His actions.
- Listening is active alignment with God’s will.
- Listening Requires Slowing, Softening, and Staying Present
- Speed, anxiety, and prideful certainty are enemies of listening.
- Listening requires emotional security, regulation and patience.
- God often speaks beneath the noise—not through it.
Practical moves:
- Slow your pace before you listen.
- Be attentive to and name your internal reactions, so you don’t get triggered.
- Ask: is this an invitation for me to make any positive changes?
- Changed Listening Produces Changed Living
- The goal is not just better insight, but better living.
- “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” — James 1:22–25
- Listening becomes real when behavior shifts.
- Fruit and effectiveness grow from lived and practiced truth.
Application:
- Where might God be speaking clearly—but I’m still only listening selectively?
- What one adjustment or action would demonstrate that I truly heard?
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