Let God get a word in

"So then my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath, 20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God."  

                                                                                               James 1:19-20    NKJV

This is a very well-known piece of scripture but, perhaps one in which the eye runs over for a moment and the mind thinks about it and then, the busy-ness of life drags us on through our day. Let us pick it apart for a moment or two and find out a deeper meaning:

Swift to hear This would be better placed if we added to this text, 'Listen to God's thoughts on a matter'. Be honest, many is the time when we ask God about something and then answer it ourselves. Why is this? It is probably because our patience is not good and we are so busy that we just don't have the time to hang about. So we go it alone and then wonder why we make big mistakes. We should always be swift to hear what someone is saying to us, especially when it is God. Many days, God doesn't even get the chance to get a word in because we want the answer and we want it now and we are the one that does all the talking. We need to be a thoughtful listener, one who has good attending skills by showing that we are actually listening. 

Slow to speak Mark Twain used to say, 'if we were supposed to talk more than listen, we would have been given two mouths and one ear.' There is a lot of truth to this. Stop giving your own point of view and start listening to what others have to say instead. When you do speak, ensure that your words are well-seasoned, carefully chosen words, not angry, frustrated and defensive ones. 

Slow to wrath If you are the type of person who has a short fuse then, you need to work on this because getting angry in conversations divides listener and speaker and creates an unwholesome atmosphere. There may be times when you don't like what God has to say. He is not a people-pleaser and will not say things just to make you feel good. His yes means yes and His no means no. He cannot be persuaded, manipulated or bribed. What God says He means, so you might as well accept this.

God's Word will confront us so, getting angry with Him will not achieve His righteous plan for your life V20. Don't be self-centred, be others-centred. 

Whether it is God directly speaking to you or another believer, we need to have the grace to listen and strongly consider that this may be God's Word for you. God does speak through other people so, it is wise to listen and mull it over, checking it out with scripture, instead of just discarding the word as, 'not from God'. Having this attitude may mean that you miss out on an important piece of information.

Ensure that God is able to speak when you have a prayer time with Him; remember not to do all the talking (we all do it), and enjoy your special time with Him.

Copyright 2021 Grahame Howard.                                 

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