Stay open and approachable

‘Consider carefully how you listen.’ Luke 8:18 NIV

Some people seem to go through life with a ‘closed’ sign on their foreheads. Whether through fearfulness, selfishness, callousness, or busyness, they’re not open to the thoughts of others. And it can cost you dearly. Take a moment and ponder these Scriptures: ‘He who disdains instruction despises his own soul, but he who heeds rebuke gets understanding’ (Proverbs 15:32 NKJV). ‘When I saw it, I considered it well; I looked on it and received instruction’ (Proverbs 24:32 NKJV). ‘Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a just man, and he will increase in learning’ (Proverbs 9:9 NKJV). People who are receptive and approachable generally display three qualities.

1) They show sensitivity towards people’s feelings. And here is something interesting: although they themselves are emotionally steady, that doesn’t mean they expect others to always be that way. They recognise that good people sometimes have bad days, so they attune their approach to the feelings of others and adjust how they relate to them. 2) They understand other people’s weaknesses because they’re aware of their own. American novelist Edgar Howe said, ‘Express a mean opinion of yourself occasionally; it will show your friends that you know how to tell the truth.’ Open and receptive people are honest about their abilities—and their shortcomings. 3) They have the ability to forgive others and to ask for forgiveness. That takes humility. American author David Augsburger wrote: ‘Since nothing we intend is ever faultless, nothing we attempt ever without error, and nothing we achieve without some measure of finitude and fallibility we call humanness; we are saved by forgiveness.’ So, the word for today is—stay open and approachable.