Take Note

James  1:19, 20 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.

Most of us are quick to become angry and slow to listen, aren’t we?  We are great at reacting to a situation instead of observing and listening for how we should react at any given moment.

I’m not sure how one learns this lesson, except to suffer the consequences of losing our temper.  When I speak in anger, I say things that undermine the character of the one I’m talking to.  I react to the judgment in my heart that I make of them when I’ve been offended.  And nothing good results from that sort of spewing out hot lava all over any human being.  After the anger subsides, then comes the realization of what I’ve said or done.  But the words have already done their damage.

Anger that arises out of a quick temper does not produce righteousness.

Listening first, being slow to speak, allows the Holy Spirit to intervene on our behalf.

 

Did you know that you don’t have to speak in anger at all?  God knows if you’ve been wronged, mistreated, or misjudged, and he is our righteous judge.  We can place the situation in his hands, trusting he will deal with those who wrongly deal with us. 

That’s really the bottom line.  We feel that we must react and get revenge upon the one who’s hurting us at the time, because otherwise they’ll “get away with” their wrongdoing.

Not so. 

Human anger produces nothing but harm. 

Ask God to produce the art of listening and slowly speaking, even in the middle of a dart game where you’re the target. 

You might be surprised at how you walk away without one hit to your heart.