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Closer To The Heart |
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Article by Tom Gilbert
Why is it that so much of our communicating with each other misses
the mark? By the end of the day we will have done a lot of talking.
Can you honestly reconstruct all those conversations? Did you
really get what the people talking to you said? Or was it so
much "blah blah blah,yada yada yada"?
The trouble I often have in a conversation is I spend entirely
too much time thinking about what I'm going to say instead of
listening to what people are saying to me. I'm up in my head
instead of down in my heart.
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The Greatest Distance
It's been said the greatest distance one will ever travel is the
twelve inches from your head to your heart. Let's face it, there's
enormous truth in that statement.
God wants us to communicate with the language of the heart.
He is love and that's where love comes from. This language cannot
be solely intellectual. It's honest and caring. It's certainly
not self-centered. The heart, therefore, is much more than an
organ pumping blood through our bodies.
This long journey from our intellect/mind/brain to the center
of our soul is a lifetime one. Even when you finally make it
there you can get lost again and have to find your way back.
The only way to be fluent in the language of the heart is to
understand what it is and learn to speak it. As with any language,
it takes practice and repetition.
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What Is It?
So what is this language of the heart and how do we get better at speaking it?
The first step is to turn our attention to God. Jesus tells
us that when we look to Him we are seeing the Father. He and
the Father are one. Therefore, taking to heart his commandment
to love God with our everything -all our heart, mind, body and
strength-should get our heart tuned to the proper frequency.
Then, and only then, can we go to our neighbor and love them
properly. It's not love as we define it, but rather as God does.
The language of the heart is not a man-made language. The apostle
Paul stated it best in 1st Corinthians 13. "If I speak
in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am
only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal."
The language of the heart is not only words. This is one of
the most significant things that my head has a hard time recognizing.
We are all aware that communication is much more than just verbalization.
Our looks, our body language and our written words convey and
communicate meaning. Many times the meaning is not what we thought
it was or intended.
There is a special communication that happens when we are truly
speaking the language of the heart. It's an intense, honest,
humble, respectful…loving tone. It involves your whole being and you can feel it. At those precious
times when I either hear or speak this language I'm inevitably
blinking back tears.
This language is not man-made, but rather God-given. It's good
to remember that God, through the Holy Spirit, dwells within
us. "We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the
Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot
express"(Romans 8:26). Here is proof that this language
is more than words.
Your prayers to God can be expressed in that special language
of the Spirit. For the benefit of others we must know how to
speak in words we all understand. If it is spirit-filled it
will still be the honest language of the heart. The words we
use should lift us up, educate and encourage. Paul goes to great
lengths in his first letter to the Corinthians to let us know
that speaking in tongues is a gift, but better that we are spirit-filled
and saying things that are understandable.
Look, Listen and Love
I know that I have much to learn from God and other believers.
Listening with my heart and not my head opens me up to a message
that I often miss. As with so much of living our faith the key
is to deny my selfish interests and be more interested in others.
This is accomplished by, to use a crass term, shutting up. I
need to talk less and listen more. Instead of thinking about
what I'm going to say when someone else is talking I need to
give my full attention. God's messengers are all around us.
I'm frequently surprised.
Try hearing with your heart. Try speaking from your heart. Learn
to embrace this special language. God is constantly revealing
His love to us.
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Scripture taken from the Holy Bible,
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.Copyright © 1973, 1978,
1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout
the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered trademarks
of International Bible Society. Use of either trademark for
the offering of goods or services requires the prior written
consent of International Bible Society.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible,
New Living Translation, copyright ©1996. Used by permission
of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189, USA. All
rights reserved.
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1 CORINTHIANS 13:1
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"If I speak in the tongues
of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding
gong or a clanging cymbal. "
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(NIV)
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A Love Worth Giving
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by
Max Lucado
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