Antonio Brown is one of the best wide receivers in the NFL and his Pittsburgh Steelers are one win away from making it to the Super Bowl.

Brown has a big personality and takes full advantage of social media to create a “brand” for himself. This is what many athletes do, but sometimes it goes too far…like it did on Sunday night.

 I’m sure you’ve seen or heard by now the Facebook Live video that Brown did in the locker room following his team’s win. While his head coach was speaking “privately” to the team, Brown was in the background filming himself and revealing to the world what was taking place behind closed doors.

There was plenty said by Mike Tomlin that wasn’t meant for everyone to hear, and now Brown is in trouble for his foolishness and selfishness.

The whole situation is rather ridiculous, but one of the biggest reasons this was a bad idea was Brown not paying attention to his coach.

Brown was so self-absorbed that he wasn’t aware of what was going on around him, and wasn’t listening to what Tomlin was telling his team.

Brown’s poor decision was put in the spotlight, but he’s not the only one who chooses to block other people out in order to focus on himself. Many of us prove to be more concerned about posting on social media than listening to those sitting next to us.

Instead of hearing what others are saying face to face, we can be guilty of drawing attention to ourselves and missing out on what’s being communicated in front of us.

When it comes to growing our faith in wisdom and understanding, we must be able to hear the voice of God. Unfortunately, when we are so self-involved and either pretend to have the answers already or tell God what we want Him to do for us, we miss out on what He wants to share with us.

Ultimately, we must humble ourselves…submit to God’s instruction…block out our selfishness…and open our ears to hear.

The Bible teaches us in Proverbs 19:27 (NLT), “If you stop listening to instruction, my child, you will turn your back on knowledge.”

Proverbs 2:2 (NLT) also tells us to “Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding.”

Today, let’s pursue God with open hearts and listening ears while letting go of being self-absorbed. Instead, let’s absorb the wisdom and knowledge that comes from the Lord. I’m Bryce Johnson and you can unpack that!

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, forgive me for being so self-absorbed and bringing attention to myself. I pray that I would be aware of my selfishness and have a willingness to be a better listener to You and others. I pray that I would grow in wisdom and understanding as I open my ears to hear. I pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.