Fighting to ListenSample

Humility and Honor 

Listening requires humility. We cannot truly hear others—or God—if we assume we already have all the answers. If we view reality in a skewed manner, we will hear in a crooked way.

Humility is a challenge for believers. Haughtiness comes in many forms. It comes in aggressive bragging, inflated or inaccurate selfishness, and “thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought” (Romans 12:3). But haughtiness also takes other forms:

1.      silencing ourselves,

2.      hoarding the gifts of God, and

3.      denying our responsibility.

Humility is simply seeing things as they indeed are. Honor (pride or glory) is not a poison to be avoided. We need to approach honor with accuracy. It needs to be grounded in Truth, or its whole pursuit will be to satisfy ourselves rather than making His name known.

Too often, we neuter our passions, muffle our calling, and silence our character because we are afraid of pride. We want to look humble rather than be humble. We listen long enough into a conversation to take hostage what others are saying and manipulate it for our gain.

When we shy away from the calling of God in our lives, the part we were meant to play in the Kingdom, we are practicing a kind of blasphemy—stifling the image of God within us. When we refuse to listen, learn, and be shaped by others, we constrain His presence. Listening to others is the precursor to listening to God.

Humility is not about eradicating self but placing it in proper context. It is about seeking the truth of who we are in light of who God is. Pursuing truth by listening is a noble act of humility.