Tuesday, March 29, 2016

A Great Mind is a Listening Mind.

Over the centuries many have spoken about the wisdom of Solomon. But not too many understand that Solomon was already wise before God blessed him. There’s no doubt that God gave him a greater dimension of wisdom, but the foundational wisdom he acquired from his father David prepared him for the unlimited one God gave him.

  How did he learn how to sacrifice to the Lord if not for that wisdom? How else did he learn to be quiet and calm when his brothers were fighting for the throne? How did he learn to be selfless in his request when God gave him freedom to ask whatever he wanted?

 It was the wisdom of sacrifice, calmness and selflessness that provoked God to bless him. But He built his foundational wisdom as listener. He listened to his father and learned wisdom (Prov 4:1-4). Most people enjoy talking. But talking adds no value except you have first learned wisdom. People want to listen to sound minds, not just good talks. You don’t learn when you speak.

In fact, you give others opportunity to discover your ignorance, when you are more of a talker than a listener. Great men listen more than they talk. In most cases, before you hear hundred words from a wise man, he has learned more than five hundred by which he is improving his life already.

People don’t just listen to you because you talk; they listen to you because they think you have a solution to offer. And that reflects in the level of tangible results you have already. Whatever pushes you to always want to talk when there are opportunities to learn, is trying to keep your life grounded. Resist it.


Meekness is Key. To be a great listener you must be meek. Quietness is not a sign of weakness but meekness. In fact, it is a priceless raw material for greatness. Yes, some people may make a fool of you, but you don’t need to worry because when you start manifesting what you have learned, their opinions will change. Sit down to learn.

Jesus did just that. He was a listener until the age of thirty, nobody knew him. At the age of 12 all he did was hearing doctors of law and asking them questions. ( Luke 2:46). But when his time came it only took him three and half years to command the envy of all earthly kings and rulers!

Be a Seeker. Matt 7:8(NLT) says, ‘Everyone who seeks, finds’. When two children are eating from the same plate, it is almost always predictable that the one who gets the lion’s share is the one with the greater appetite. The same it is with knowledge, you learn more when you have great expectations. Jesus simply applied solutions he received from the inside and he became unstoppable. My prayer is that someone reading this will also become unstoppable as he seek knowledge.


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