Scripture: James 1:19-20 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.
Devotion: When you are in an important meeting, you never want to be the one who sat silently through it all, right? As ideas are thrown around, concepts are discussed, and issues are resolved, to simply sit there quietly likely wouldn’t look the best. People may assume you are disconnected, uninterested, or not qualified to be there. While that may be true to some extent in that, if you have been given a seat at the table, you likely have something to contribute, there is also wisdom in being slow to speak.
Can you think about how much better off we all would be if we could take a moment to pause before blurting out what comes to mind first? We spend a large amount of time worrying about a comment that we made and walking back a comment that came out wrong out because our words have impact.
Our Scripture for today calls us to be quick to listen and slow to speak. I know for me, that can often be the opposite of how I respond. I am much too quick to speak and far too slow to listen. But when I think about people in my life who exhibit Godly wisdom, they often epitomize this. They can give Godly counsel after listening carefully. They don’t interrupt and don’t strive to make their opinion known. Yet, they always have profound impact with their words. When someone is sharing their story or their struggle, after they feel seen and heard, they are much more likely to receive any feedback, correction, advice, or encouragement. Obviously, the goal is not simply for our voice to be heard, but that we would be used by God. And when we stop long enough to pause before we respond, we give Him time to put on our hearts exactly what He might want us to say.
Perhaps James was onto something when he wrote that we that we should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry. We can read that at face value and agree, but when we think about the people who truly live this out, we can see the incredible benefit of it and how God uses that. May we so desire to be used by God however He wants to that we strive to be quick to listen and slow to speak.
Reflect:
