“This you know, my beloved brethren. But let everyone 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)

Can you imagine better advice for getting along with others?  How often we hear it said that the problem in a family, a plant, an office, a school, or even a church is a breakdown of communication. Obedience to this verse would change all of that.

“Be quick to hear.” Listen! Try to understand where the one who is talking “is coming from” and what he or she really means. See if you can repeat what was said so accurately that the one who said it will agree that you have stated the position accurately.

Now, make sure a reply is needed. We do not have to correct every mistake we hear.  Some are not serious enough to require attention. Others, though serious, may have to wait for a more suitable time to be corrected.

Even if a reply is needed, take your time. “Be slow to speak.”  Think of what you are saying.  Think how it will sound to the one hearing it and how it will sound if it is repeated to someone else. Ask yourself if what you are about to say will do good or do harm. Ask God to help you to say only what needs to be said. Nehemiah was asked a question by the king and managed a prayer before he answered (Neh. 2:4-5).  Remember that once you have spoken, you cannot recall your words.

Above all, “be slow to anger.”  Anger almost always breaks down communication; shouting matches seldom end in a better understanding of each other.  And, besides jeopardizing human relationships, they endanger our relation with God.  We may fancy that our anger is “righteous indignation,” but the Holy Spirit says: “The anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.”

Are you thinking, “That’s not much of a way to win an argument”?  RIGHT!  But it is a pretty good way to stop one.  How would you like to by to argue with someone who is “quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger”?

– by Sewell Hall