"HOW ARE YOU?" ....?fine•••

[Bible Speaks]

"HOW ARE YOU?" ....?fine•••

Lesson for today. (1 Peter 3:8)  

"Finally, all of you have unity of mind, fellow feeling, brotherly affection, tender compassion, and humility."

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Companions of the man Job heard no fewer than ten of his discourses. Still, Job exclaimed: “O that I had someone listening to me!” (Job 31:35) 

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Why? Because their listening provided no comfort. They neither cared about Job nor wanted to understand his feelings. They surely did not have fellow feeling as sympathetic listeners. But the apostle Peter counsels: “All of you be like-minded, showing fellow feeling, having brotherly affection, tenderly compassionate, humble in mind.” (1 Peter 3:8) 

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How can we show fellow feeling? One way is by showing concern for the other person’s feelings and trying to understand them. Making such sympathetic comments as “that must have been upsetting” or “you must have felt misunderstood” is one way to show that we are concerned. 

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Another way is to put what the person is saying in our own words, thus showing that we understood what he said. Listening with love means paying attention not only to the words but also to the emotions subtly expressed. “THANKS for listening.” Has anyone said that to you lately? What a compliment that is! 

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A good listener is appreciated by just about everyone. By listening well, we can refresh people who are distressed or loaded down with problems. And does not being a good listener help us to enjoy people? In the Christian congregation, listening with love is an essential part of ‘considering one another to incite to love and fine works.’ “Love . . . does not look for its own interests,” says the Bible. (1 Corinthians 13:4, 5) 

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Listening with love, then, implies that we put our own interests aside. This may call for switching off the television, putting down the newspaper, or turning off the cell phone when others are speaking to us about a serious matter. 

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Listening with love means becoming intensely interested in the other person’s thoughts. It requires that we refrain from starting to talk about ourselves by saying something like, “That reminds me of what happened to me some time ago.” While such an exchange is acceptable in a friendly conversation, we need to put personal interests aside when someone is discussing a serious problem. Genuine interest in others can be manifested when they reply "I'm ok" or "I'm fine", when we listen and extend love and concern! 

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https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2005844?q=how+are+you+feeling&p=par