Lightning listener not motor mouth
Remember this, my dear brothers and sisters! Everyone must be quick to listen, but slow to speak and slow to become angry. Human anger does not achieve God's righteous purpose. James 1 : 19 - 20 (GNB) |
The advice we are given in our passage this week might seem simple, however it is vitally important to remember and surprisingly difficult to follow.
I am sure that if you look back even over the last week you can think of at least one occasion when you have either let your mouth drive into a situation without thinking or have allowed yourself to be annoyed or angry by something that really wasn't worth it.
These few lines in the Bible go against our human nature. Our default mode is to react to a situation as quickly as we can. If someone says or does something we do not like, do not agree with or we think is wrong it is almost instinctive to want to jump in with our point of view.
However as the passage reminds us that this isn't the best way to approach the situation. Allowing our mouths to motor ahead of what we are hearing, ahead of our own thoughts and reasoning is dangerous.
Just as a car or bike needs to be driven with careful thought and attention on the road so do our voices in our lives. By slowing down, and thinking about what we are saying we are much less likely to career out of control with a screech of ill thought out words.
This week remember that you are the driver of your own voice. Driving slowly and carefully is the key. Have a great week.
This week's song is Shoulders by For King and Country. |
Header image by: SpeedProPhoto via Flickr