Gaining Respect

Have you ever wished that people would listen to you when you speak or when you give directions? I don’t mean just your spouse or children. I think that getting people to listen has more to do with the person speaking than the people listening. Let me explain what I mean. People, and when I say people I mean you and I, have a lot of voices working hard to get their attention. All of these voices competing to gain our attention cause us to shut out many to hear a few. Sometimes they make us almost shut down completely and make us not want to not listen to anyone. This leads us back to our original question, how do we get people to listen to us?
I think there are a few things that we can do that will encourage people to listen. First, we need to actually have something to say. I know in my own life I shut people off because they don’t seem to have much to say or they just repeat the same thing over and over. So if I want people to listen, I need to have something that is important enough to say that it catches their attention. Secondly, not only do I need something to say, I need to truly believe what I am saying. If I am sharing info with people and I am not whole heartedly sold out on that info, others will quickly realize I am not all in to what I am saying. Third, I need to be living what I am talking about. The people I am speaking to and sharing with need to be able to see me live out what I am saying in my daily life.
In the book of Joshua chapters 3-4 we see these truths being lived out in Joshua. Joshua had something to say (from God), he believed what he told the people (because it was from God), and he personally did what he told the people to do. As he lived out what he told the people, the people listened and respected him.

“That day the Lord made Joshua a great leader in the eyes of all the Israelites, and for the rest of his life they revered him as much as they had revered Moses” Joshua 4:14 NLT.

-Pastor Tim