What does the Proverb say?

"The first to present his case seems right until the next steps forward."

Boy, isn't that true.

I can be as guilty as the next person of believing something without checking the other side, too.

It can be so damaging when we don't do the other side the courtesy of bothering to hear what they have to say.

How many relationships are blown apart, or people never reconciled, because of not hearing the whole thing out?

We have to ask ourselves, do we really want to know the truth, or are we content with a certain hardness of heart toward others? Are we prepared to ask the difficult questions AND hear the difficult answers? Sometimes I think I am, and sometimes I'm sure I'm not. 

Gulp.

God, give me the grace to dignify both sides by seeking "first to understand, not to be understood."