Proverbs 20:5 5 Though good advice lies deep within the heart, a person with understanding will draw it out.
In other words, everybody’s got something to teach you. It’s like deep water in a well, and you’ve got to draw it out of them
How do you draw the wisdom out of every person? By learning to ask smart questions then listen.
Before You Judge, Listen in Love
By Rick Warren
It’s hard to be judgmental when you’re trying to listen with compassion, honesty, sincerity, and fairness.
James 1:19 NLT Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.
Listen first before you judge.
One time the Pharisees were trying to judge Jesus without letting him have a say or explain himself. They didn’t want to hear his side of the story. But Nicodemus, one of the Pharisees, spoke up
John 7:50-51 NLT Then Nicodemus, the leader who had met with Jesus earlier, spoke up. “Is it legal to convict a man before he is given a hearing?” he asked.
How many times have you judged someone—your child, your spouse, your neighbor, your enemy—without listening to their story first? Have you found yourself treating someone the same way the Pharisees treated Jesus?
When you feel the urge to judge someone, stop and take a breath. Hold that breath if you need to—if that’s what it takes for you to listen before you speak! If you don’t listen first, you are committing the sin of judging others.
Do you think something needs to come to light in someone’s life? That thing probably is not yours to expose. Let God take care of it. Your job is to listen first. Try to understand before judging someone’s struggle.
Matthew 7:1-2 NLT “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.
Do to others as you would have them do to you. Listen in love, and let God be the judge.