Swift to Hear, Slow to Speak

 

James 1:19-20(NKJV)

19£So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; 

20for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

What great advice.  Simple and to the point.

Swift to hear.  As the saying goes, "God gave us two ears and one mouth.  He was trying to tell us something.  We should listen twice as much as we talk".  We should practice aggressive listening.  What I mean by that is to really put an effort into listening, really listening to what people are saying.

We also want to practice aggressive listening with God.  We listen for God when we are praying but I think we need to be aware that God communicates with us when He wants to, not just when we are praying so let's try to always be listening for His voice.

Slow to speak, slow to wrath.  Great advice there eh?  Don't get mad so easily.  Learn to hold our tongues.  As the Bible tells us, "we are hung by the tongue, snared by the words of our mouth".  Let's slow down and take the time to choose our words carefully.  And in doing so I think we will slow our burn rate and not get angry so easily.

Give it a try today!