James 1:19 says, “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.”

• A conversation allows you to know people and meet them where they are. *One of the worst things you can ever do is determine the character of someone based off of what someone else has said to you about them, a first time impression, or by simply observing the minute details of their life. Your 30 minutes a day around them does not dictate the other 23 1/2 hours of how they are that day. 
• When we have weaknesses in our lives or feel inferior about certain things concerning us, we easily and mistakingly take things out of context, only hearing parts of a conversation and being offended while missing the true meaning behind what someone says. 
• Having an open and honest conversation allows us to see from someone else’s perspective. You should keep in mind, “What if I am wrong?” “What if what I have heard is not true?” How can you be sharpened in defending what you believe if you do not hold conversation with someone who doesn’t believe like you do? We are taught in the church to not socialize with people of other religions, atheists and gnostics because it may “confuse” us! This regurgitated message is sickening because not only does it prove someone does not have an authentic relationship with God, they do not pick up the Bible and read it! 
• God is not the author of confusion, but why did He confound the language of those with the Tower of Babel? Their confusing languages were the reflection of the confusion that had already taken place in their hearts. They had an immoral unity that was based in rebellion since they did not truly know God as Father, but only as Creator.
• Conversations are important because death and life are in the power of the tongue. We can use our tongues to encourage or discourage. We can take words and allow them to build us up or offend us. 
• Swords can cut you or they can sharpen you. It will determine what you are made of! Is our sword being used more to defend our faith or to expand the kingdom of God through prayer and obedience?