Hear, Speak, Anger

"This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God."  James 1:19-20

I used to talk a lot.  Too much, really.  I was raised in a busy home with 5 (4 girls to boot) children and there was never a shortage of conversation -or people thinking they had to be heard.  (Same as most homes, I would imagine!) 

Then there's my anxiety.  If I am nervous or anxious, I tend to chatter.  If I am trying to explain something and I just cant get it out right, I keep talking until I am finally able to get my point across correctly.  The more nervous I am, the faster and longer I talk!  Well, I do have to say I am not that way now nearly as much as I used to be.  (What can I say, I'm a work in progress.) 

Slowly but surely I am learning the beauty of being quiet.  Of just listening.  It is amazing what you will hear if you just stop talking. 

This quality was modeled before me in a few key women that God placed in my life a few years ago.  They are the ones I try to immitate when I am not sure how to handle a situation.  Their quiet and gentle spirits always come to mind.  I have tried to picture one of them yelling at their children or being in a rage with their husband and I just cant.  They taught me what it looks like to be "quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger" -and for that I will forever be grateful. 

Anger in and of itself has never been something I struggled with -until lately.  My personality has always been phlegmatic so things that upset me were "water off a ducks back" until they became so hard that my melancholy came out.  Chalk it up to post partum hormones or just the hormones of an aging woman but anger is suddenly an issue for me. 

Where this verse hit me is that a person who gives in to anger can never achieve the righteousness of God. 

Verse 21 goes on to say, "Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls"  and later in Verse 26: "If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is worthless."

Anger always leads to spouting off our mouths and saying things we aught not say.  Especially if you remember that our sinful thoughts are as if we said them. 

So if we can be quiet and slow to speak, we will also be slow(er) to anger.  If we can master our tongue and open our ears, we will be that much closer to achieving the righteousness of God! 

♥