Who do we listen to?

What strikes me in this photo is the image of hurt, shame, pain, of someone who is being hurt by another.

Interestingly enough, the last few weeks have brought an array of emotions, and I have had to face the fact that I often do not listen to the right person, especially in my relating to others.

There is a special someone in my life who I love beyond measure, who is tender, caring, who has the beauty of a flower blossoming after a cold and dreary winter. With that love, there comes a vulnerability in communicating, listening and just sacrificial loving. It is looking beyond myself and what I want and deserve and it is loving them beyond what I want to get back or think I need to get back. It is in a sense a maturing of how I see love. I am not perfect..."yep...I am not...can you picture that?" But I am willing to learn, grow and express love to this woman in ways I have never before. It is standing up as a man, taking leadership seriously, and learning to give.

I am also learning to listen to others, and more importantly God. We cannot rely on listening to just our feelings as that does not dictate to us who we are, or how we should behave or act out in. Who are we in God's eyes? Who does he say we are as his children? How should then we respond? Often we have a feeling and really...does it line up to what God says of us? Does it go contrary to the Word of God? For years, I labeled myself, and I walked in just how I felt. I did all that I could to "feel good" and to not feel anything contrary to pleasure. Now as I look back on the past 2 years and especially the last 6 months, I see that listening to the word of God, listening to who I am, regardless of how I feel, has brought about a measure of maturity that otherwise I would not have. I do not have it all together and make mistakes and will continue to, but my desire is to listen to God.

Listening to others is also beneficial in all areas of our lives. We have gone away from the "ask your elders" mentality. Rather we decide what is best for us...and that is it...period! There is no need to ask anyone for advice or their opinion...because we can do it all by ourselves, because in reality, we are individuality driven. I am learning to walk in community with others, to seek out Godly wisdom and advice from others. Do I accept everything...hmmm, not right away. I weigh that wisdom out, in terms of, does it line up to the Word of God? Does it go contrary to what God is saying? Lately, I have received much wisdom from people and it has been God directed. It is pushing me toward God and my relationship with him.

So life keeps on getting more interesting and fascinating to me. It brings about challenges and growing experiences and I welcome all of those different facets into my life. Someone that I know shared with me how I must just like excitement in my life, at all times. I had to think about that and I would agree that I like life to be exciting, because that is what life is about. When you start taking risks and starting thinking a bit on the edge, you begin living differently. I would say that I enjoy living on the edge, much like Jesus did. HE was radical, edgy and wow, the things he did, saw and experienced is for us here on earth as well. Embrace it, live it and enjoy it.