Jesusluvsall's Blog

 “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.” Nelson Mandela

My fellow blogger, Kavita, shared this quote by Nelson Mandela with me in response to my post about Blessing Children. Kavita lives in South Africa and I enjoy her posts about life in South Africa, family, and issues such as people with special needs. Her blog is sunshinysasite.wordpress.com

She shared this quote with me yesterday and I saw it after I came home from teaching my morning class. One of those little moments in life happened for me yesterday at school. One that really touched me.

I went to school wearing a sling because I injured my shoulder Wednesday. There were many questions from my students and fellow teachers. The children I wrote about in Blessing Children also wanted to know what happened. One of them, the smallest of the group, looked at me when I walked into her classroom which is next to mine. I went in to talk with her teacher about something and she looked at me and pointed to my arm in a sling. I pointed to my shoulder and mouthed ouch. I thought that was the end of it.

Later in the hallway this little girl, who isn’t even 4 feet tall yet, came up to me. She looked up in my eyes and gave me a hug. She was trying to make me feel better and let me know she cares. I thanked her in Spanish and wished her a good day and weekend.

That gentle little hug from that precious little girl stayed in my spirit all day. When I came home and read Nelson Mandela’s quote about by speaking to someone in their language it goes to the heart really resonated with me.

The reason I try to at least learn greetings in the different languages of my students is to show them I respect them and care about them. Wonderful friendships have formed because of my willingness to try to speak to them in their language.

Many of my fellow bloggers do not have experience with other cultures like I do, but there are ways to speak the ‘language’ of the people we come in contact with who speak the same spoken/written language that we do.

What I am talking about is showing interest in people. The apostle Paul was the most effective of the apostles in starting the church. He started churches all over the Mediterranean world. He wrote about reaching people in 1 Corinthians 9:

“I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.”

Part of getting to know someone is to learn their language of life. What interests them? What do they value? What are their life experiences? If we can  manage to not be self absorbed and focus on the other person, good things can happen.

In other words, learn the language of the person’s heart. It doesn’t mean we have to do the same things, but showing interest and asking about things that matter to them builds connection.

Thank you Kavita for sharing the Nelson Mandela quote with me. I learned something new 🙂

Thank you for reading. God Bless.