Day 311: Listen to Me

By t.pep.me | November 7, 2014 |

Proverbs 7:24

So listen to me, my sons,
and pay attention to my words.

Principle

Faith comes by hearing; hearing comes by the Word.

If you’re going to lead people, you must give them faith to follow. That means that people need to hear from you for direction.

I can’t recall not having chores to do as a child. We always had a list of things to do. Saturday mornings weren’t a time to sleep in; they were a time to get awakened and get out in the field to work.

My mother’s second husband wasn’t a father to me, nor was he a good leader. If we were working on something, he would cuss and carry on if I didn’t do something right, even though he didn’t tell me or show me how to do it. It was incredibly frustrating as a child trying to anticipate what I was supposed to know and how to do it.

The Bible tells us not to exasperate children. To exasperate means to “arouse anger as a form of punishment.” It’s an abusive relationship for an adult to use or manipulate a fit of anger to punish a child. It can cause tremendous collateral damage to a child.

I’ve had many conversations with men who, even as adults, struggle with the side effects of their parents’ or guardians’ misuse of anger.

If you want someone to follow you, you must give them faith to follow you. In other words, teach and show them what to do. I’ve found that people willingly and enthusiastically follow a leader who gives them the instruction and inspiration to follow.