Be quick to listen and slow to speak...

Off late, I realised how important listening is much more than being quick to speak. I stumbled on an article from desiring God.Really got me thinking.Here are some key points I could gather as life lessons: The charter text for Christian listening might be James 1:19: “Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.” It’s simple enough in principle, and nearly impossible to live. Too often we are slow to hear, quick to speak, and quick to anger. Good listening requires patience. Good listening is an act of love. Good listening asks perceptive questions. Good listening is ministry. Good listening prepares us to speak well. “The best ministry you might do today is to listen to someone’s pain all the way to the bottom.” Good listening reflects our relationship with God He who can no longer listen to his brother will soon be no longer listening to God either; he will be doing nothing but prattle in the presence of God too. This is the beginning of the death of the spiritual life. . . . Anyone who thinks that his time is too valuable to spend keeping quiet will eventually have no time for God and his brother, but only for himself and for his own follies.