Produce

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. 

Wow, not sure I’ve ever read the last of this passage – our own anger never produces anything good, and certainly not what God desires.

Here in these verses it says we should be quick to listen.  Instead, we are usually quick to anger and quick to speak.  It’s these impulses, these outbursts, and these damaging words that wreak all kinds of havoc in our homes and among our family members.

So how do we train ourselves to listen, and to whom are supposed to listen? 

I think if we walk in the Spirit, we can listen intently when we are misunderstood, mistreated, or mistaken.  We can most importantly hear him say that He will handle all darts that are thrown against us, and we don’t have to just have knee-jerk reactions of picking up the darts and throwing them back.

So if human anger does not produce righteousness, then being slow to speak and slow to anger – because we’re listening to Him – must produce all kinds of good things in us.