selfish listening

We have become a society of selective hearing. I really believe with all the marketing of what do “you want” and a ridiculous level of self consumption that we listen selfishly. Listening selfishly is when you only hear what you want to hear and say anything you want to say. This is not only true in human relationships but with God as well. I remember when I was in what I call “full complaint mode” when my eye was doing really bad and was saying continually that God was not listening to me and my needs and didn’t really care about what was going on in my life. I know now that God is always talking to us and the greater question is whether or not we are going to listen to what he says. When I don’t listen selfishly and spend time waiting to hear what God has to say I have to put myself in a place of submission to what he wants and not what I want. To listen in this way, I need to realize that whatever he has to say is way more important than what I have to think and that his words have the power to alter my destiny if I will let them. Today, practice the fine art of listening. Just because you have the ability to listen doesn’t mean that you are good at it. It takes work to be a good listener to God as well as people but it is worth it.