Make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness ,knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness , mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.

1 Peter 1:5-7

Motivate: to provide with a motive : IMPEL

Impel: to urge or drive forward or on by or as if by the exertion of strong moral pressure.

We can all motivate each other via our actions and our words. Each morning we open our eyes we have an opportunity to choose to be positive or negative. Those of us living with chronic illness and pain may find it difficult to be positive when we hurt, but even a simple smile and making eye contact can change someone’s day.

Each of us have an opportunity each day to motivate each other by doing things with love and showing others via good works. There appears to be turmoil everywhere we look. Recently in my small city of Yucaipa protests were held. Most were peaceful, but one got out of control. People were fighting, business owners took up arms, and both sides behaved in a negative manner. Negative behavior like this creates separation and brings people down instead of brining us together and motivating change.  We are all human and not the color of our skin nor the way we dress.

Instead of being negative we can motivate each other by supporting one another and respecting each other’s views even when we do not agree. But we must first learn to listen to what is being said and not just hearing. There is a difference between hearing and listening. We can hear something without really listening. For example, we hear sounds all around us at any given moment, often we just tune out the background noise, but if we concentrate, we can pinpoint where each sound is resonating from and what is making each noise. When we really listen to what we hear, each of the sounds has meaning.

Have you ever heard someone talking but not really listened to them? I know I am guilty of this. For example, when one of my children was trying to convince me to let them participate in a particular event and I have already decided the answer is no because I know I’m right and they are wrong. So, I continue doing the dishes and making mental notes of what I need to buy at the grocery while half listening. My actions show them that their words are not important. But when I take the time to really listen to them and make eye contact, I find that they have some good ideas that I had not even considered. Often their ideas are quite different than mine, but that does not mean that they are wrong. We must be careful not to make someone else’s words our background noise. Because when we really listen, we build bridges instead of walls.  So, before you respond negatively take a moment, really listen, and think about what is being said. Sometimes people say things because they have experienced a situation that we cannot comprehend. The old saying,” You can catch more flies with honey” …comes to mind because a small act of kindness such as listening can change a person’s view and heart.

When we take the time to listen and treat others with love and respect, we motivate each other. We encourage change and promote togetherness not division and malice. It takes a lot of self-control to surrender to the fact that others may have a better idea or solution to a situation. During these trying times we all can be the catalyst to help urge others to keep moving forward by showing others that their words and lives matter by listening and not just hearing. Listen to others just as our Father listens to us because it brings hope, understanding, and motivation for change.