A lack of quality communication in any relationship is a major factor in the shallowness or breakup of it. Most, if not all, married couples admit to a struggle with communication; sadly, divorced couples reveal communication as one of the greatest challenges. Many employees quit or are asked/forced to resign due to a lack of proper communication from one or more parties.
So let's ask ourself this question...if someone else were to rate my level of communication with him/her, what would be the result? Granted, there are several variables involved in communication, some of which are: ability of the one communicating the message to speak his/her thoughts clearly; an incorrect perception of the thoughts by the listener; a wrong attitude of either the speaker, listener - or both; a means of communication that's less than quality (ie, radio, CD, phone, sloppy writing, incomplete thoughts, etc). The list can continue, but for sake of time, let's move on.
The responsibility of communication is not solely the communicator or the listener's; the communicator - the one speaking - has the responsibility to convey his/her thoughts in a way the listener(s) understands. The receiver (listener or recipient of the message) has to be focused on what is being said. I personally think the responsibility is moreso on the part of the one communicating; however, I understand from raising children and working with a lot of people that even when the communicator has done his/her best, the receiver is at fault for not focusing or paying attention and trying to understand what is being said.
You might ask... what does this have to do w/ me as a normal person, or as a Christian? God is the originator of communication. He made the first attempts to speak with humanity (ref. Adam and Eve in Eden), and He made the decision to come in the form of Jesus, as a human, to communicate to people who He is and His purpose for them.
Looking at the character of God and His attempts to communicate w/ people, we see the means of doing everything we can to let the other person know what we are saying. What if God had just given Moses the 10 Commandments and never spoke w/ humanity after that? What if He only spoke through the prophets without sending Jesus to explain the heart of Father God?
What if you are not really paying attention to what you are reading at this point :) Am I communicating my thoughts so you can understand? Just checking.
Ok, let's continue....
My point in confronting me and you about this is....Do we really take time to communicate to our spouse, children, co-workers, family members, employees, employer, etc, or do we just assume that since we know what we're saying , then everyone else should? You and I become very frustrated when our words are misconstrued, falsely interpreted, or taken in a wrong manner; this can lead to false accusations and other major issues with people.
One of the big challenges of any business is to communicate the heart and vision of the leaders to everyone, to the 'lowest on the list' so he/she can understand. Do you realize that God has taken time, out of eternity, to make sure you and I, mere humans, understand His heart and love for us! He has done that by sending Jesus, giving us His written word, speaking to us through other people, and even by declaring His awesomeness by the stars, galaxies, and the details of the human body.
Here's our challenge: never assume people understand what you are saying, and always be willing to over-communicate to insure your heart, vision, thoughts, etc, are clearly understood. God did that for us by sending Jesus to 'seek and save those who are lost' - the least, which includes you and me. Since He is our example, and we all know He has trouble communicating His heart to us (look at our actions), let's make a point to be better communicators, to make sure we are doing all we can to clearly let others know what we are telling them...so they don't have to guess what's in our brain!
Spending time in someone's presence gives us opportunity to understand his/her heart; let's not forget to allow the Greatest Communicator to speak to us by taking time in our busy schedule to pray - and then we make a point to listen and obey.
So let's ask ourself this question...if someone else were to rate my level of communication with him/her, what would be the result? Granted, there are several variables involved in communication, some of which are: ability of the one communicating the message to speak his/her thoughts clearly; an incorrect perception of the thoughts by the listener; a wrong attitude of either the speaker, listener - or both; a means of communication that's less than quality (ie, radio, CD, phone, sloppy writing, incomplete thoughts, etc). The list can continue, but for sake of time, let's move on.
The responsibility of communication is not solely the communicator or the listener's; the communicator - the one speaking - has the responsibility to convey his/her thoughts in a way the listener(s) understands. The receiver (listener or recipient of the message) has to be focused on what is being said. I personally think the responsibility is moreso on the part of the one communicating; however, I understand from raising children and working with a lot of people that even when the communicator has done his/her best, the receiver is at fault for not focusing or paying attention and trying to understand what is being said.
You might ask... what does this have to do w/ me as a normal person, or as a Christian? God is the originator of communication. He made the first attempts to speak with humanity (ref. Adam and Eve in Eden), and He made the decision to come in the form of Jesus, as a human, to communicate to people who He is and His purpose for them.
Looking at the character of God and His attempts to communicate w/ people, we see the means of doing everything we can to let the other person know what we are saying. What if God had just given Moses the 10 Commandments and never spoke w/ humanity after that? What if He only spoke through the prophets without sending Jesus to explain the heart of Father God?
What if you are not really paying attention to what you are reading at this point :) Am I communicating my thoughts so you can understand? Just checking.
Ok, let's continue....
My point in confronting me and you about this is....Do we really take time to communicate to our spouse, children, co-workers, family members, employees, employer, etc, or do we just assume that since we know what we're saying , then everyone else should? You and I become very frustrated when our words are misconstrued, falsely interpreted, or taken in a wrong manner; this can lead to false accusations and other major issues with people.
One of the big challenges of any business is to communicate the heart and vision of the leaders to everyone, to the 'lowest on the list' so he/she can understand. Do you realize that God has taken time, out of eternity, to make sure you and I, mere humans, understand His heart and love for us! He has done that by sending Jesus, giving us His written word, speaking to us through other people, and even by declaring His awesomeness by the stars, galaxies, and the details of the human body.
Here's our challenge: never assume people understand what you are saying, and always be willing to over-communicate to insure your heart, vision, thoughts, etc, are clearly understood. God did that for us by sending Jesus to 'seek and save those who are lost' - the least, which includes you and me. Since He is our example, and we all know He has trouble communicating His heart to us (look at our actions), let's make a point to be better communicators, to make sure we are doing all we can to clearly let others know what we are telling them...so they don't have to guess what's in our brain!
Spending time in someone's presence gives us opportunity to understand his/her heart; let's not forget to allow the Greatest Communicator to speak to us by taking time in our busy schedule to pray - and then we make a point to listen and obey.
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