Swift to hear

 

Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. – James 1.19-20

 

Of all the wonderful bits of practical advice in scripture this may be one of the wonderfulist and practicalist of all. 😊

 

Three little things would make our lives so much better.

 

Be in a hurry to hear and listen

Be slow to open your mouth

Be slow to get angry

 

 Just me imagine that. What if I could just learn to keep my mouth shut? What if, instead of popping off before the person has finished talking I could keep my mouth shut until they were done? What if I could keep my mouth shut until I think over what has been said and pray and think over it? How would that alone change my life?

 

That would certainly help with the second part. If I am quick to hear I am going to be slow to speak. It just makes sense.

 

And then the last part comes. Let everyone be slow to wrath.

 

Wow. We can be so swift to lash out that we can do great damage before we even know the whole truth because we have been quick to speak and slow to hear. Most of our problems with anger could be solved if we just took the time to hear the whole story before we respond.

 

Think about the number of times you have gotten angry, heard the whole story, and had to sheepishly say ‘oh.’

 

Swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath would sure save us a lot of trouble.