Love listens.

When we love others, we listen to them. Sure, it takes time and effort to focus on them and hear what they are saying. But when we do, it shows genuine concern and respect.

Author Wayne Alderson tells of a young minister who spent a lot of time listening to the problems of his church members. One day he came home and said to his wife, “How did your day go?” for a half-hour she told him about a problem with the car, their son’s earache, and the difficulties she had getting an appliance repaired. The pastor immediately began to problem-solve, citing a list of things she should do.

But she just looked at him and sighed. “I have already done all of that,” she said. “I don’t need you to solve my problems. I just need you to be interested in what I’ve been through.”

When David pleaded, “Hear my voice according to your loving-kindness” (Psalm 119:149), he was expressing the truth that the God who loves us also listens to us. Listening is a part of loving.

Listening to a wife, a husband, a fellow worker, or a Christian friend may be just what that person needs to be encouraged or to see a problem more clearly. Go ahead and listen. God Himself shows that love listens.

Evangelism.

 "Revival will call for much love and humility, because it may please God to use one man more extensively than another.  The fleece of one denomination may appear to be wet with the dews of heaven while another is only damp with it.  In some cases God may use the least gifted of men - at least some would so judge them - and in the least likely of churches find a channel for His grace.  May God preserve us from a spirit which would prefer to see no revival at all if it did not come in our form, after our pattern, and through our instrumentality." - John T. Carson

Church:

The church, rooted by God, can never be uprooted by man.

A church helps the lost to find their way home when its light shines brightly.