Author: Christian Channel

Daily Bible Study
Here God is giving us practical wisdom for our day to day lives, and no doubt there are many of us who wish we had heeded this instruction from God's word more often. Those times when we should have listened to others and not been in such a rush to speak. God is showing us the wisdom of first listening to understand, before we open our mouths to speak. This is not referring to the impatient type of listening most of us do. That is the half-hearted listening most of us do, while we prepare our next argument, eagerly waiting for the next opportunity to interrupt, take control, speak again and in many cases raise our voice to make ourselves more assertive. Impatient listening, is sin in God's eyes, and it represents a heart that loves self more than God, and has no love for others. So what these passages are referring to, is really a matter of the heart, specifically our heart toward God and those around us!

In other words, they refer to our attitude toward others, our attitude toward God as well as our love for the Lord and our love for others. Moreover, how these things compare to the love we have for ourselves. These passages speak in regards to having a heart of humility, of having a desire for the good of others, which is above the desire for our own personal gain. As followers of Jesus, we are to first seek to understand others before seeking our turn to speak. We are to seek an understanding that leads to a union and not more division, while glorifying God and staying true to His moral character. To emphasize this point, God tells us even a fool can look smart when they keep their mouth shut and practice this behavior. In addition, this is also true in our spiritual lives. We are called directly by Jesus to read and study God's word, the Bible. We are called to contemplate scripture, waiting on the Lord in prayer, following His precepts before making decisions that alter our lives or the lives of others.