“Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.”(1st John 3:18)

When I first met my future husband, he swept me off my feet.

Not literally.

He did something so rare that I couldn’t get him off my mind.

Wanna know what that was?

He listened.

Yep, I know this seems awfully simple.

But listening is so rare nowadays.

When I arrived at the University of Michigan as a graduate student, I didn’t know a soul. My first couple of days there had been filled with problems with my coop room, registering for some classes, getting lost, feeling lonely, and recovering from a bad cold.

When Bruce and I first met, he didn’t launch into the usual, “here’s all the impressive stuff you need to know about me” routine.

No. Instead, he fixed me a pot of tea, asked me what I was studying, what did I get for Christmas, what kind of family did I grow up in, what was my philosophy of life.

His kindness and sincere interest in me as a person—not a potential girlfriend— impressed me.

Bruce didn’t try to wow me with his looks, his athletic ability or strength, or his smarts, or his knowledge.

There’s an old saying: “People don’t care what you know until they know that you care.”

This saying is kind of like the wonderful verse in 1st John (3:16): “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.”

Listening is a truly impressive way of showing God’s love. It’s an active thing, a serving thing.

The most lovely and unselfish people I know are also great listeners. They all seem to recognize that they’re in this world not to impress others with their talk, but to be representatives of Jesus Christ on earth.

And who listened better to others than Him?

Wanna be truly impressive?

Listen.