Communicate Well - a page from The Speed of Trust in God's Eyes

Death and life are in the power of the tongue

Proverbs 18:21

 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt,

so that you may know how you should answer everyone.

Colossians 4:6

Most Christians would say they “trust God.” Yet, how is that practiced, how is that played out in the real world? My purpose in the next few minutes is to get you to think just little about Communicating Well; its importance and some practical applications. To help drive these points, I'll use a couple of Biblical illustrations from John Maxwell's Leadership Bible and a behavior as described in Stephen M.R. Covey's Speed of Trust. Hopefully you'll pick up the importance of Communicating Well; that practice sure helps me trust God, myself and others at a much higher level.

Here's a bit about how Talk Straight as described in The Speed of Trust;

Tell the truth and leave the right impression. Be honest and let people know where you stand. Use simple language. Don't manipulate or distort facts. Don't spin the truth. Don't leave false impressions.

Opposite - to lie or deceive

Counterfeit - beating around the bush, withholding information, double-talk, flattery, positioning and spinning the truth. Technically telling the truth, but leaving a false impression. Legally splitting hairs.

The points-to-ponder here are "tell the truth and leave the right impression" and "counterfeits." I've worked at practicing these specific behaviors for over 4 years now and invariably the problem I come across is a distortion, or counterfeit of the behaviors.

A Biblical example of not Communicating Well -

Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-6; communication was one of many ways that Adam failed by…

a. ignoring some details in the message he was supposed to communicate
b. allowed himself to be influenced more by Eve than God
c. failing to remember, or ignoring, the consequences of disobeying God
d. not taking responsibility for his communication failure

In this example the king’s hunger for power, unreasonable demands, poor decision and unwillingness to listen ultimately led to his destruction.

Listening and hearing are two separate things. While we all hear as it’s a function of our ears, listening is a willingness, even a response to hearing.

An example of Communicating Well -

1 Samuel 10:3 – 12:25; While Samuel wasn’t “King,” he was the King of Communication. Samuel….

a. spoke words of revelation (back in 7:3)
b. spoke words of inspiration (10:3-6)
c. spoke words of exhortation (10:24)
d. spoke words of affirmation (10:24)
e. spoke words of information (10L25)
f. spoke words of declaration (12:20-25)

Samuel kept his message simple, knew his audience, lived what he preached and looked for a response from the people by urging them to obey God.

Additional scripture about Communicating Well: Exodus 12:3-23, Joshua 4:1-9, Psalm 19:14, Proverbs 12:14, 15:1-7

In closing, here are some additional points-to-ponder:
- you may be a good speaker, but are you a good communicator?
- do you pay close attention to what God is telling you?
- regardless of your temperament, skill or gifts, do you give appropriate attention to detail?
- as a leader and a follower are you clear about the message your speaking and hearing?


Communicate Well in your management, leading and especially following!

Danny

Note: other writings on "a page from...." can be found by searching this blog for "a page." This is part of an ongoing project as described @ http://thespeedoftrustingodseyesproject.blogspot.com/