Listening before answering

Job 2:11–13; James 1:19–20

Use your preferred translation.

When does an attempt to comfort become an attempt to silence grief?

• What does the passage say? Restate it in your own words before interpreting it.
• Who is speaking, and to whom?
• What is the surrounding context — what comes just before and after?
• Which words or phrases repeat or stand out?

1. Job’s friends sat in silence for seven days. What did they get right before they began speaking?
2. James says be quick to hear and slow to speak. Why is this so difficult in hard conversations?
3. What phrases do people use to comfort that may actually close down someone’s grief?

In your next difficult conversation, what would it look like to listen until you understand before answering?

In one conversation this week, ask a follow-up question instead of offering advice.

Ask God to make you patient in listening and careful in speaking.