In some ways, these are polarizing times. People are becoming very good at arguing. 

It can happen face-to-face. It can also happen online. Sometimes it’s with someone you know, and sometimes it’s with a complete stranger.

As people of faith we know we have to stand up for certain things. I totally agree with that. We need to stand up for Jesus. We need to stand up to injustice. We need to stand up to Satan in the power of God’s Spirit.

But one of the things I’ve noticed is that people have become quick to forcefully state their opinion—or to enter a full-fledged argument—without being well informed. They adopt a ‘yell-first-listen-later’ mentality.

But listening and understanding are friends—or, at least, they should be.

Proverbs 18:13 speaks to this very issue: “To answer before listening—that is folly and shame.” In other words, if we think we have all the answers before listening, it is our “folly and shame.”

If someone has a different theological perspective than you, why not hear them out? The same goes for when someone has a different view about politics, parenting or social policy.

This doesn’t mean you have to agree with them. In fact, listening may deepen and strengthen your own convictions because it forces you to truly examine what you do or don’t believe.

In and through it all, being a person who truly listens is an act of respect (when respect is in short supply). It can also be a sign of intelligence since it means you really want to learn. Most of all, it can drive you back to the truth of God: Is this-or-that view consistent with the word of God? 

As I said at the beginning of this devotional, some people are becoming very good at arguing. Arguments are bound to happen from time to time. But let’s also be people who listen, who attempt to show respect and learn, and who ultimately want God’s will to be done in the world. 

“To answer before listening—that is folly and shame.”

Notes and extra content:

–PAUSE ALERT: The Up Devotional is on pause next week while I’m on vacation. It will return on March 17, 2025.

-“The word that Christians need to reclaim.” New podcast and post. Click here or find it on ‘The Pulse Podcast with Matthew Ruttan’ wherever you subscribe (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc.)

-Bible quotes are from the NIV.