31 Days to a Better Deacon Wife: Day #15 – LOSE THE “I”
31 Days to a Better Deacon Wife: Day #15 – LOSE THE “I”
Today your assignment is to carry a small notepad with you all day, recording the name of each person with whom you have a conversation.
Have you ever been in a group where one person dominated the conversation? Perhaps she brings every single conversation back to elaborate on something about herself or her family or her work or her projects. Perhaps she spends the entire conversation with long-drawn-out details of her recent physical problem or accomplishments or pet peeves. You also notice, don’t you, that people avoid that type of person.
Oh, you’re probably not like that, but just to be sure you haven’t slipped toward that self-centered tendency, your assignment is to examine every conversation you have today.
__ Do you listen more than you talk? Or do you ask questions and listen carefully to the other person?
__ When you listen, are you thinking about what you will say next, or are you concentrating on the other person completely.
__ Do you make eye contact when someone is talking to you, or do you look past them at someone else who might be more important to talk to?
__ Do you talk too much about yourself? Or do you show genuine interest in the other person?
__ Do you complain about life circumstances too much, or do you show complete trust in God in your conversations?
__ Do you call the person by name to acknowledge her value or do you often forget names, implying the person’s lack of importance?
__ Do you pray silently as you listen to others, asking God to bless them through you?
__ Do you think everyone else wants to hear about every detail of your life, but have little interest in them?
I recently had lunch with a few Christian friends. One person loudly dominated the entire conversation, regaling the trapped listeners with personal problems, complaints, and boastful yarns. The person interrupted when others spoke. It was easy to see why others seated themselves as far from that person as possible. If that could have been you, make a commitment to listen more than you talk and to consider others more important than yourself.
Your influence and ministry increases greatly when you are a person of humility in your words, a rapt listener, a woman who gives glory and credit to God as she speaks (instead of to herself or her family members), someone who encourages and genuinely cares about the other person.
So carry a small notepad with you all day today. Jot down the name of each person with whom you converse. Then evaluate if it was “all about me and my needs” or “all about Him (God) and them (the other person.)”
“Do nothing out of rivalry or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves.” Philippians 2:3