Most women are better listeners than men. duh, right!? Men struggle more so with communicating, especially how they feel. Communication is the avenue to build an encouraging relationship.

Communication is how we reveal our love or lack of love for each other.

Let me try to paint it in a different picture.
A person wants to build a relationship with someone else. They talk and hangout. But after some time they quit communicating. The friendship starts to dissipate and one person comes up with reasons why the other does not reach out.

It comes down to communication. A failure to communicate.

At work, one person is passionate about a certain issue. They share their heart and the other co-workers hardly blink at it. The person's feelings are hurt over a simple conversation and over time they make up in their mind that everyone is against them and slowly feel the urge to leave and find a new place of employment.

In a marriage the wife asks the husband to do certain things the way that she would like. The husband responds but also adds his thoughts on what she could do to show love to him. But she feels that only if he does what she wants, THEN she will show love the way that he desires.

Communication is a two way street. To effectively communicate, the person talking must understand how they are being heard and received by the person listening. This is a huge issue in today's culture. We simply think that if we communicate something (verbally or online) that everyone should just "take it" and if they do not understand or agree, then we write them off.

I want to share some simple tips that I've learned (through trial and error) about communication:

- If someone calls you, call them back. It reveals they matter.
- If soneomeon texts you, text them back. Once again, it reveals worth.
- If you promise to do something, make sure to follow through. If you do not, ask for forgiveness.
- If you say you will do something, write it down so you remember. One of the biggest ways to make people feel undervalued is to forget them.

Communication reveals how we love other people. It doesn't matter if we are naturally good at communicating or we talk non-stop. Communication is more than talking but understanding. One of the biggest reasons for conflict in relationships, jobs and life is a failure to communicate effectively. It takes work but the harder we choose to work at communication, we speak a language that defines love.

What ways do you try to communicate effectively?