Listening & Obedience

I am learning so much every day about what it means to be dad, and where I can improve on how I communicate with my kids and with others.

One thing that has been impacting me as of late is the notion of listening and obedience. As I child I can remember getting in trouble for not listening to my parents. But now as an adult, I'm beginning to understand that there is a separation between listening and obedience. What I was getting in trouble for as a child wasn't about listening, it was about obedience. There is a huge difference between these two words. To listen to someone means to hear what they are saying. To obey some means to do what they have asked you to do. These are two totally different things.

Unfortunately, I think we've confused these two words. We get frustrated when people don't listen to us, but I wonder if it's because we're expecting obedience instead of listening.

I'm learning this concept with my daughter Saydie. She often hears what I'm saying, but doesn't do what I'm asking because I haven't asked her to both listen and obey.

Something for you to think about today. When I ask others to listen to me, am I expecting them to obey, or simply to hear what I'm saying?