June 13. Proverbs 18.
Good morning, friend. Oh, there was a proverb that convicted me, today in chapter 18. How about you? Sometimes these are real zingers, and I am grateful to be “zinged!”
My verse: “He who answers before listening – this is his folly and his shame.” Proverbs 18:13
My response: Dear Lord, I confess that this is something I do waaaay too often. I’ll finish my husband’s sentences for him, or I’ll interrupt someone while they are still speaking. Often, after I’ve assumed what they were going to say, I find out I was wrong. “No,” says my patient husband, “that is not what I was going to say.”
Help me SLOW down, Lord. Help me to consciously listen, today. Help me to listen all the way to the very end of the other person’s thoughts, not assuming I know what they are about to say. Forgive me, dear Lord, for not being a good listener. Thank You for this concrete way to check myself on this. Help me not to speak until the other person is totally done. And then maybe I should still pause for a moment! I receive this reproof, Lord. Teach me, please.
