A pastor had trouble remembering the names of his church members, so he developed a technique of glancing at their names, which were printed on the covers of their Bible, as they spoke. His tactic worked fine until one day he called a lady “Sister Genuine Leather.”
The pastor should have looked for a better technique, because remembering names is an important skill to develop. Dale Carnige, who wrote the classic, “How to Win Friends and Influence People,” said the sweetest sound to any man’s ears is his own name. The writings of Paul in the New Testament are filled with personal greetings by name.
But why do most of us do so poorly with names? Because we don’t take time to listen to them in the first place. Next time you’re introduced to someone, take 10 extra seconds to actually listen to their name and say it back to the person. Taking time to show an interest in people is always redeeming the time.
Rick Grubbs is best known as the host of “Redeeming the Time,” a one-minute radio program featured on hundreds of radio outlets around the world. He has spoken thousands of times on Biblical time management in all 50 states and 26 other countries. He is the author of the book “Morning Momentum: God’s plan for launching an unstoppable day”. He and his wife Carrie live in Salisbury NC with several of their 12 children.
