I'm practicing the discipline of not having to have the last word.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the importance of restraint in communication, valuing understanding over the need to always be right.
Dallas Willard's quote highlights a crucial aspect of personal growth and effective communication: the discipline of not needing to have the last word in a discussion. It suggests that true wisdom lies in listening and understanding others rather than insisting on one's own perspective, fostering healthier relationships and deeper connections with those around us.
In practice
During a team meeting, I reminded myself of this quote to promote a more collaborative atmosphere.
The greatest issue facing the world today, with all its heartbreaking needs, is whether those who, by profession or culture, are identified as βChristiansβ will become disciples β students, apprentices, practitioners β of Jesus Christ, steadily learning from him how to live the life of the Kingdom of the Heavens into every corner of human existence.
The first act of love is always the giving of attention.
So many people would like to have guidance from God because obviously, if you have a word from God, it's the best possible thing. But they don't relate that to life as a whole. Often they want guidance as a way of opting out of the responsibility of making decisions.
What is truly profound is thought to be stupid and trivial, or worse, boring, while what is actually stupid and trivial is thought to be profound. That is what it means to fly upside down.
The basic question 'will I obey Christ 's teaching?' is rarely taken as a serious issue. For example, to take one of Jesus' commands, that is relevant to contemporary life, I don't know of any church that actually teaches a church how to bless people who curse them, yet this is a clear command.
When I left home after graduating high school, I left as a migrant agricultural worker with a Modern Library edition of Plato in my duffel bag. It sounds kind of crazy, but I loved it. I loved the stuff. Before I knew there was a subject called philosophy, I loved it.
Enjoy when you can, and endure when you must.
Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you've got about a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies - "God damn it, you've got to be kind."
The trick to my writing, it turned out, was doing so exclusively in bed. The minute I even dared to discipline myself and write at the desk, I produced mounds of nonsense. Yet, sitting in bed, I wrote easily, effortlessly, fluidly. I became the master of perfect indiscipline.
The harder you work, the more confidence you get. But you may be working hard on something that is false.
We suffer a lot the few things we lack and we enjoy too little the many things we have.
They deem me mad because I will not sell my days for gold; and I deem them mad because they think my days have a price.
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