Conversation? Conversation!

How difficult is it to have conversations these days? I mean with family, neighbors, at times our closest friends due to a wide range of issues where we find we disagree, sometimes perhaps even for the first time in years. True? I think my readers will admit it's so.

Unless you only and exclusively talk with people you already agree with you'll miss so much, even if you read, listen and watch forever. Learned experience from others in face-to-face mode is so important even vs. other modes of learning and study.

I've long been convinced plenty if not most people these days are triggered to close down, close up and remove themselves from growing, learning, coming to greater spiritual, intellectual and emotional levels of listening and bypass maturing in these areas due to the avoidance of deep conversations with others -perhaps especially if they don't agree with our current biases and ways of seeing the world. We really don't see through the same lenses a great deal of the time.

If you have no conversation with God, you have no God. Please read that again.

If you refuse the, at times -difficult- work of conversation with others, you have no true relationship with them.

If you decide either the Lord or others are not worthy of conversation and pull away, divide, depart, split you thus have no relationship. Let's face it that there are times apartness (see "holiness" verses in God's Word) is a reveal of the nature of God in the life of a follower of Jesus. There are time to back away, even separate- I get that. There are also plenty of times it is the worst possible attitude, position, behavior, road to take in a wide world wall-to-wall with people God literally commands us to love!

How does anyone come to saving faith in Jesus Christ without conversation? A deep and thorough read of the scriptures clarify they do not.

Is conversation often painful? Do we not -all- often make mistakes, take wrong steps, mess up when talking or -not- speaking with others? Is not our very salvation dependent on conversation with God? YES to ALL these questions!

At the same time we must move beyond mere talk to action and that costs us even more than words. I think sometimes that's why we ditch the process needed to actually link with others.

This post was created to hopefully challenge us toward loving people (whom God does via both His Words and actions by living out His Words and the very Word of God-in-flesh Jesus Christ) and to avoid the escape into dead silence or only speaking to judge, condemn, correct or "one-up" people. I believe such is often a cop-out, a flaky and impossible way of living, particular as a follower of Jesus.

I fear many run from John chapter 15 (discipleship as Jesus defines it) and are in deep need of a Spirit-led "heart transplant".

Too many spin toward nothing but heated, out-of-balance and even spiteful and sometimes outright hatred in their talk... which is all they'll be putting out along with their disdain for truly listening and thus hearing. I'm convinced this is neither God's will, plan or heart toward anyone. It's spiritual "wood, hay and stubble" in a world in deep need of "gold, sliver and precious stones".

Please consider- and as always, thanks for stopping by! -Glenn