“Do You Really Understand?”

1 John 5:20a "We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding."

One of the most common problems in churches today seems to be misunderstanding. We, too often, aren’t on the same page, or even worse, in the same book. Sometimes we even seem to be on different planets. A lot of our communication problems come from not listening carefully. We all are very busy doing several things at once or are distracted. When we don’t focus, or truly pay attention to each other, there can be a real lack of understanding. The same is true with God. When we don’t listen to Him, or when we are distracted with life, it’s easy not to pay attention to what He is revealing to our hearts and minds.

Have you noticed that there are certain tones and voices in with certain people that we can just tune out? Do we do that with God’s truth? We’ve heard it so many times, we just tune it out. If we don’t hear or understand something, then we don’t have to deal with it, right? I think we choose not to listen, hear or understand more times than we would like to admit.

Another huge deterrent to understanding is confusion. I know that God is not a God of confusion. Confusion comes from the enemy. I believe one of Satan’s favorite sources of confusion is to promote foolishness. Oh, how much foolishness there is in the world today. Satan is not only the prince of liars, but he is the king of fools. The only solution to the confusion factor is truth - the truth comes from God’s Word. But we must know it and understand how to apply it.

Once a young boy was watching Discovery Channel and a program about creation came on, teaching evolution as truth. This little boy started arguing with the T.V. He said, “Where do you get this stuff?” Getting no answer, he added, “Haven’t you ever read the Bible?” The boy had a firm understanding of the Bible. That biblical basis gave him protection against foolishness by arming him with the fixed moral standards and biblical principles found in the Word of God. This is not a once-applied lifetime protection guarantee - - you must keep applying the Word. Our children especially need it.

Let’s coat each other with liberal applications of the truth and make sure we are really listening. Just as important though, really take the time necessary to carefully listen to
each other; focus on what is being said; do not be distracted by what the world is screaming at us and really hear each other’s needs, concerns and lack of understanding. This approach will limit misunderstanding and add to understanding.

Are you really listening to me? Do you understand? For the church’s sake and His sake, I hope so...

In Him,
Pastor Fred

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