Swift to hear, slow to speak and slow to wrath

By Evangeline Unity Esaaba Folson

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.

The NIV says

My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this. Ever6yone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, ands slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.

Why would the Apostle James give this advice? in my opinion of the three actions mentioned, listening, speaking and getting angry, the most important is listening. If you do not listen carefully:

You will be misled because you did not hear or understand what was said.
You would understand the instructions given and know what to say.
You would not get angry because you understand what was said.
We all need to learn to listen attentively, carefully and read in between lines in order to understand and know how to respond. Listening is very important if you want to be a good student, worker and ambassador of Christ.

The next word of great significance in the passage is “anger” or “getting angry”. Anger has led to the destruction of several lives because anger can make you do things you will regret later.

Anger can be defined as a strong feeling of displeasure or hostility. There are stories that talks about people who killed because of anger. There are examples of people who incurred God’s displeasure. Because of anger Moses struck the rock twice to get water instead of speaking to it as God directed. The Israelites were pressuring him for water made God angry and got punished (Numbers 20). The same Moses got angry with the Israelites for worshipping an idol, after staying with God for $0days to write the ten commandments. He destroyed the tablets with the commandments by throwing them down (exodus 31-32).

How can we listen carefully to avoid getting angry which displeases God, We must:

Be eager to listen to God and obey

1 Samuel 3:10, Luke 1:38

Seek clarification

Jeremiah 1:6-7, Luke 1:34

Be prepared to overlook your neighbour’s mistakes

Proverbs 10:12, 1 Peter 4:8

Be eager to listen to God and obey

1 Samuel 30:10

And the Lord came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel, Speak! For thy servant heareth.

God called Samuel twice earlier on but since he was young and did not know the Lord well enough, he went to the high priest Eli. He advised Samuel to say “speak; for thy servant heareth” as he perceived it was the Lord calling Samuel.

The lord came a third time and called and Samuel answered “speak; for thy servant heareth” with eagerness and the willingness to listen. God, therefore told him all he wanted to and from that time onwards, He used Samuel greatly.

God speaks to us in diverse ways, through:

His word
His prophets and men of God
Dreams and visions
The holy spirit who lives in every Christians.

It is important to pray for sensitivity to hear the Lord when He speaks to us through some of the ways mentioned above.

Luke1:38

And Mary said, behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word, and the angel departed from her.

Mary the mother of Jesus also expressed eagerness and willingness to obey the Lord’s word. God used her and obeying the Lord’s word is important if we want to be used mightily by God.

Seek clarification

Jeremiah 1:6-7

Then said I, ah Lord God! Behold, I canno0t speak: for I am a child. But the Lord said unto me, say not I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and what so ever I command thee, thou shalt speak.

It is very necessary to seek clarification or to seek to understand better whenever you are listening to the Lord like Jeremiah did. You may have certain problems or issues that would make the fulfillment of the assignment difficult. Be certain you understand instructions before you act. Fulfilling the assignment may not be feasible in your opinion. When you seek clarification you can fulfill your mission better.

Luke 1:34

Then said Mary unto the angel, how shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

Mary did not know how the Lord’s assignment will be fulfilled, it defied human understanding. How can a virgin give birth when she has known no man? She asked for clarification and everything was made clearer for her to fulfill God’s mission.

Be prepared to overlook your neigbour’s mistakes

Proverbs 10:12

Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins

The NLT version says!

Hatred stirs up quarrels, but love makes up for all offences.

When you love someone, you are able to overlook his/her offences or mistakes. You even try to cover up by doing things he/she is expected to do but is not doing. Things that need to be done but are left undone are done to cover up and prevent the person from shame or disgrace. As Christians we should do this for one another. So the world would have no reason to criticize us and bring shame to our Lord and savior.

1 Peter 4:8

And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.

This is the New Testament version of Proverbs 10:12. The explanation given above holds for this verse as well.

Let us be quick (ever ready) to listen, slow (very certain before we proceed) to speak and slow to become angry.

References