JULY 12 “FEATURES/CHARACTERISTICS OF GODLY INTIMACY: LISTENING WITH COMPASSION”

One of the simplest ways to show intimacy is to truly listen. Not just hearing words, but actually listening with your heart. When we listen with a heart of compassion, we provide people with emotional safety and help them feel seen, known, and valued.

Joshua, a teenager in the youth ministry, rarely spoke up and was often seen as “unserious.” But one mentor, Bro Ayo, took time after every service to persistently ask “how are you doing today”? One day, Joshua opened up about being bullied at home. Bro Ayo listened without offering a solution or making any suggestion. Each week Bro Ayo would ask “How was the week”? and he would share a few suggestions as well as prayer with Joshua. Gradually Joshua became more open and engaged with his fellow teenagers.

Taking time to truly hear someone’s heart often requires setting aside our own distractions and sacrificing our time and other resources (Gal 6:2). When we see ourselves as deeply connected companions in faith, we become a support pillar in each other’s silent struggles.

Practice It: This week, pick someone or a ministry member. Ask questions about them in areas that you are genuinely concerned about.  Listen without interrupting, don’t offer any suggestion, don’t correct or give any explanation to their responses. Just listen and take in each response. Some days or time later, having prayed, now give responses in love and with understanding, to the responses you got.

PRAYER: O Lord, grant me the grace to listen attentively to others so that I may be an instrument of comfort to them. May my own life challenges not become a distraction to hearing what you are saying to me, through others, in the name of Jesus, Amen.