She was a sweet-talkin’ woman. She knew how to turn on the charm, butter him up, and get him to do her bidding. The way a woman uses words is another point of contrast between a wild and a wise woman. In this book blog, you’ll find out that using sweet talk is a strategy [...]
At my teen girl events, I often ask attendees what they most want to change in their moms. Nearly every time a freckle-faced, braces-laden beauty raises her hand and says, “Like, she sometimes isn’t very focused when she talks to me. If she could, like, not wash the dishes or totally stop taking out the trash when I’m talking and, like, well, really, totally look me in the eyes and, like, listen!”
His mother was not home, but the young boy wanted to draw, so he got out the bottles of ink himself. His sister agreed to pose for him. In his eagerness and excitement, the young artist made an inky mess of his hands, clothes, table and floor. Just as he was finishing his work, his mother returned, and for a moment, stood in the door and silently took the scene in. Then, instead of scolding him, she picked up the portrait and declared, “What a beautiful picture of your sister!” and kissed him.
I once saw an advertisement that enticed people to buy cell phones so they could engage in more “gab, blab, and gossip.” Are you a talker? Do you enjoy gabbing, blabbing, and gossiping? There’s nothing wrong with enjoying good conversation, but the Bible warns that excess speech is often accompanied by sin. “Where words are many, sin is not absent…” (Prov. 10:19, NIV)
When I was young, grown-ups often greeted me with the sing-songy question: “Mary, Mary, quite contrary, How does your garden grow?” Since my name is Mary, they used this line (taken from a famous nursery rhyme) instead of the traditional “How are you?” I must admit it mildly irritated me. They no doubt thought they were being clever and cute, but I didn’t like being called “contrary.” And I didn’t really understand the meaning of the rhyme.
Listening is an active process involving more than just the ears. The Chinese character for the verb “to listen” contains the symbols for ear, eyes, heart, and undivided attention. Active listening involves giving our undivided attention – hearing with our ears, observing carefully with our eyes, and understanding with our hearts.
Take a moment to evaluate your speech habits. How good are they? If a grade of 100% represents perfection, what grade would you give yourself? If you don’t swear, and aren’t given to gossip or outbursts of anger, you might confidently give yourself 80% or perhaps even 90%. Compared to the people around you, your speech might deserve a pretty high mark. But what if you graded your speech according to God’s standards? Take this 20-Question Test to see what kind of mark you’d get…
