Wisdom In Listening

You're listening to the My Morning Devotional podcast, episode 1556. Today's Devo is called Wisdom in Listening. Hey there. We're the Alessies, a ministry family working together in our church in Miami, Florida. And if you're like us, when days get busy and to do lists get longer, it can be hard to find devotional time. That's why we've partnered with our friend Allison to produce a five minute daily dose of heaven. This is the My Morning Devotional Podcast. Well, happy Monday, everybody, and welcome back to the My Morning Devotional Podcast. I'm your host for the week, Gabby Alessi Koladiud, and I am so thrilled to be back. It has felt like forever since I've been on this show, and it feels good to be with you all this week and to share something that is from my heart and something that I'm currently walking through and currently experiencing and. And trying to discipline myself in. You see, we are in the Book of Proverbs all month long for the month of June. And some of our followers might say, well, we've done this before or haven't we done this before? And my response to that would be, there's never a time that we should stop reading Proverbs. There's never a season where you don't need the wisdom that's found in Proverbs. So even though, yes, we have done this before, I think it's needed even once a year for us to go back in and listen to the words of Solomon, listen to the wisdom that's found in Proverbs. And so what I felt on my heart to do was to look at five different values daily, values that we all could learn and add to our lives, and these values that we find in the Book of Proverbs. And these aren't just, oh, they're good values. No, these are wise values. These are values that. That help you learn more and that make us become more wise. And so I'm going to break them down, but today we're going to focus on the value of listening. All right, already. You listening to this podcast, you're adding to the value of listening. So good job, Everybody. But Proverbs 1:5 says this. Let the wise listen and add to their learning. This is unique because it doesn't say, let the wise speak, let the wise talk, let the wise share. No, it says, let the wise listen and add to their learning. You see, wisdom begins with listening before Proverbs teaches us how to lead, how to speak, how to work or make decisions. It first teaches us to listen. A wise person never outgrows the posture of learning. And God speaks through Scripture through wise counsel and through correction and sometimes through silence that forces us to pay attention. God, that's so deep right there that there are seasons in our life that we go, God, I just want to hear from you, Lord. I want to hear your voice. And it's unique because we ask God for that, because we're expecting either an audible voice or that stuff still small whisper of a voice. But meanwhile, our Bible's sitting there unopened. The wise counsel that's at our church, we're not listening to what they have to say. Our pastor that spoke a word on Sunday morning, we're disregarding. Or the Connect group or the ladies in your life that you can share from the men in your life that you can glean from. They're all sitting there and you're not taking. Or we're not taking their correction or their advice. Why? Because we want to hear God. And if we know God, we know that God speaks through his Word and he speaks through his people. And the only way for us to fully hear him is by listening, is taking a moment and pausing and saying, God, I'm going to listen to you. This is really hard for me, and I think this is one of the reasons. I mean, we have a podcast where all I do is talk, but I'm a talker. My first reaction when there's a problem, when. When even something good happens, when something, Anything happens, is I speak, I say things, I process out loud. I don't have a filter. I've talked about this on the podcast for so many times. But that's not wisdom. And just because I might have the solution and I can bring the solution immediately, doesn't mean that it's wise in that moment for me to speak and share my opinion or share the wisdom that I might have. Because wisdom says, hold your tongue. Maybe you can learn from this moment. Hold your tongue. Maybe someone else needs to speak. And maybe what that person needs to say, you need to learn from. Because listening. This is what's hard about listening. It requires humility because it admits that we don't know everything. This is where I struggle, you and me both, because many times we rush to defend ourselves. You know, we. We want to interrupt other people. Hold on. I got to say something here. I got to defend myself. I got to make sure you guys know where I stand. I'm in agreement. I just want to make sure I know with my siblings all the time. Whenever there's sibling drama and everybody's arguing and I'm somewhat in the middle, I will go and defend myself to both parties to make sure they know I'm on their side because I don't want anyone to be mad at me. But what I do is I over talk rather than listen to both sides and hear what both of them are trying to say. And so what I do is I go in there and I stir the pot because I said, well, she said this and then he said that and then mom and dad said this and all of that and it makes things worse. Rather than let me sit back and just listen to what my brother has to say about the situation, let me listen to what my sister or my parents have to say. Maybe I can learn something from them. You see, proverbs remind us that growth comes to those who are teachable. Listening equals teachability. When we listen, we're saying, I don't know everything. I'm going to hold my tongue and I'm going to listen to what others are saying. And there is a difference between hearing and listening. It says this. There's a difference between hearing words and receiving wisdom. One reaches the ears, but the other changes the heart. So today let's slow down enough to listen not only to those around you, but let's listen to God himself. So I have a question for you as we close out with this devotional. What distractions are keeping you from hearing God lately? Answer that question and let's take it to prayer. Father, we just thank you for today. God. I thank you for your wisdom. And I thank you that you instruct us and you teach us to hear from you. Holy Spirit, I ask that you would slow us all down, slow our lives down. Put away the distractions. Help us put away the distractions so we can hear from you. And help us all today. Remember to listen. Be slow to speak, but be quick to learn. In Jesus name, Amen. So there you have it. Your 5 minute daily dose of heaven. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We pray these devotionals empower you to take on your day. If you found value in this devotional, share it with a friend. Leave a comment or review for us on the app you're using right now. Until tomorrow. We pray that your latte is strong, but your love for Jesus is stronger.