In our previous articles (here and here), we have been expanding of the full breadth of communication through the acronym BEST. We have noted this is a prescription written by Dr. Ed Wheat, M.D. in his book Love Life for Every Married Couple for attaining and maintaining Great Communication: Bless, Edify, Share and Touch. The principles we have expounded extend to every relationship where communication is involved.
Today we look at the S in BEST: Sharing.
“Sharing touches all areas of life – time, activities, interests and concerns, ideas and innermost thoughts, Spiritual walk, relational objectives and goals,” states Dr. Wheat.
Obviously, all these areas involve communication and conversation in order to take on a life-of-its-own – so to speak.
Sharing, through conversation, requires a giving of yourself, listening to feedback, and as you communicate with another your ideas can grow and you can grow as an individual. Hence the latter portion of Ephesians 4:29 shown in italics comes to life:
“Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.”
It was pointed out in an earlier article concerning Silent and Listen, when we are silent listen carefully to what the other person is saying. They may hold the key, or answer, to a need we are pursuing.
Ed Wheat alludes to the event in The Book of the Acts of the Apostles “…that all the believers were one in heart and soul and, at that time, even had their possessions in common….”
Although this may be beyond where we want to be with others, it is an illustration pertaining to the possibility of achieving oneness at many levels. In fact, Ed Wheat concludes his view of sharing with this statement:
“If this sharing could happen within a group of people, how much more possible it is to develop oneness…between two (sic many) people…” seeking to attain and maintain proper, healthy communication?
Next time: As we have seen, Sharing is a multiple-purposed facet of conversation. Equally so is the T-element – Touching – in our BEST acronym.
