JAMES 1

19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:

20 For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

QUIET PLEASE

We all want to be heard, we don’t like to listen and we are very quick to anger.

Taken together this is a volatile cocktail that leads to trouble, James fully expounds on the subject of the mouth in chapter 3, so often my reaction is:

SLOW TO HEAR

QUICK TO SPEAK AND QUICK TO WRATH

God’s wrath is perfect, it is based on his righteousness, our wrath and anger as will be seen in chapter 4 is unholy and brings strife, God’s is based on his perfect holiness.

So are you a good listener?

We often hear this said, when there’s an argument ” oh I don’t want to hear this”.

Do we hear the other person or do we like the sound of our own voice?

Are we slow to speak? Is our tongue under control, this is the true test of Christian maturity. Because we don’t hear, we speak, not knowing all the facts and this leads to wrath, so listen before you open your mouth, it will save you lots of trouble and pain.

Are we slow to wrath?

Are we like a volcano or are we virtuous?

MATTHEW HENRY SAYS

  People are often stiff in their own opinions because they are not willing to hear what others have to offer against them: whereas we should be swift to hear reason and truth on all sides, and be slow to speak any thing that should prevent this: and, when we do speak, there should be nothing of wrath; for a soft answer turneth away wrath. As this epistle is designed to correct a variety of disorders that existed among Christians, these words, swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath, may be very well interpreted according to this last explication. And we may further observe from them that, if men would govern their tongues, they must govern their passions. When Moses’s spirit was provoked, he spoke unadvisedly with his lips. If we would be slow to speak, we must be slow to wrath.

God bless you

KK