Focus on the message and not the messenger.
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Introduction
Do you find yourself ignoring a message because of who the messenger is? I know I have been guilty of that. I encourage you today to put aside any preconceived myths and focus on the message and not the messenger. Listen to what others have to say. Read what others are saying. You may be very surprised to observe the quality of the content.
Focus on the word of God, not the messenger
The word of God does not change. Sometimes we do not want to listen to the preacher because of who the preacher is. However, if the preacher is preaching and teaching based on the word of God, then you should make up your mind to listen to the message and make some takeaway points. Too many times we are caught up with the popularity of the person or the tone in which someone speaks. Likewise, because someone is not popular or perhaps, they did not go to Bible school or encounter failures or mishaps in their life, we ignore them and do not listen to the message. Be very careful with this. God can use anyone to deliver a word. 1 Corinthians 1:27 states “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.”
Do not focus on the politician or the party, focus on the message.
This is political season, and I know many people are aligned to a political party and so they do not listen to the message of what the others are saying and if they do listen, they look for something they can criticize. It is time we change our mindset and listen to messages from both sides of the political field and then make up our minds as to what you will do. Stop focusing on your party. Stop focusing on the educational background of a candidate. Focus on what the person is saying and the ability to get things done.
Do not focus on the age, focus on the message.
Sometimes we tune out the messages from the youth because we feel they are inexperienced and still have a lot to learn. Likewise, we tune out messages from the elderly as we feel they are out of touch. However, I encourage you do not to focus on the age of someone. The young and old have something that we learn from. Listen to their messages.
Do not rule out the drunk, the homeless or the poor
Many times, we tend to overlook the messages from those that are homeless, poor, alcoholic or drug addicts. We focused on the messages from the rich, famous and people of status. While they may have some powerful messages, let us not overlook the messages from those that are drunk, poor or homeless. Perhaps if we listen to them, we can help others from going down that road or we can help them to get up.
Conclusion
I know it is a human thing to focus on who is presenting the message. However, I believe we are missing out on some very powerful messages because our focus is on the messenger and not the message.