Welcome to Paul Tripp's Wednesday's Word podcast.

I'm Dalton, a member of the Paul Tripp Ministries team.

Join me each week as I read aloud Paul's popular Wednesday's Word devotional.

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This week, Paul continues to revisit the love, no, speak, do ministry model we studied over the summer.

Here's this week's Wednesday's word.

Are you struggling to know someone deeply?

Of course, even those who have been fully covered by the blood of Christ will be guarded,

not fully transparent, even deceptive.

Loving others intentionally can help break down these protective defenses, but we still make blunders in our attempt to know them. Love,

know, speak, do. Why don't we ask better questions and take time to truly listen? Why don't

we ask people more often what they meant by what they said or why they did what they did? Why don't we ask people to define their terms or explain their logic?

Why don't we ask people more about what they were thinking and feeling?

Why don't we get them to talk more about the purposes and desires that shaped their decisions?

In a word, assumptions.

When you assume you do not ask, if you do not ask, you open yourself up to a world

of invalid conclusions and misunderstandings. God not only uniquely creates each of us,

he also sovereignly authors and directs each of our stories. People are at once all the same

and dramatically different. Because of this, you cannot know me only by knowing

what Scripture says about me. You will know wonderfully helpful things about me as a human being,

...