Daily Devotional

-May 25, 2021-

Good morning, happy Tuesday,

– Being Swift To Hear, Slow To Speak And Slow To Anger-

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

(James 1:19-20).

The strongest people in the world are those with a strong character. They don’t get ruffled, bent out of shape, or upset just because things don’t go their way. All of us need to be more peaceful and calm during adversity.

James, the half brother of Jesus is so practical in his epistle. The Book of James has often been called the Proverbs of the NT. He calls himself a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. In speaking of the trials that come into our lives, he mentions three essential things that will help us successfully navigate the difficult circumstances we face: being swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath.

• Be Swift to hear – Being a good listener is something we can all improve on. Our problem is we like to talk, make our opinions known, and show what we know. The fact is, God gave us two ears to hear and one tongue for a reason. We learn by listening to others. To be swift or quick to hear or listen is vital to being good communicators. It greatly enhances our teachability and how well with get along with others.

• Be slow to speak – We have all said things we have regretted; and we can’t take the words back. Words can hurt people very badly. The old adage is just not true, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.” Bodies heal faster than hearts. Case in point, people carry hurts and grudges for years. If we would just think before we speak, we would avoid some many problems and issues. It is like an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Having to ask for forgiveness is much harder than not saying something hurtful to start with. Our mother’s advice is so needed: “If you can’t say something nice about someone, don’t say anything.”

• Be slow to wrath – This is a touchy subject. We all have gotten angry and usually at the very people we know best and love most. It never produces good results. We can ask ourselves, “Do I have short fuse or a longer one? Do I fly off the handle, sometimes at some very minor things? The more we read, study, and meditate on God’s Word, the better we can handle life’s frustrations and disappointments. The wrath or anger of man does not produce or achieve the righteousness of God. Anger is toxic!

Conviction is a good thing. When the Lord points out something that needs to change in our lives, we had better change, and change now. We need to change our whole way of listening, speaking, and behaving. Let us start today being quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger. Then we we will see a big improvement in our relationships. Just remember it is easier to see these things in others than in ourselves.

Have a blessed day listening more and speaking and getting angry less. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean