Text : James 1: 19-21.

Be quick to listen and slow to speak
Vs. 19 - We should learn this principle from Jesus Christ. Listen when He speaks with the Samaritan woman. These principles will help our personal relationship and also our relationship with Christ.

Most of us do too much talking and not enough listening. As parents we lose our children because we do not engage ourselves in discussions with our children, and we don’t have time to listen to their problems and things that concern them.

The Bible has a great deal of instruction on this subject.
Proverbs 10:19 “In the multiple of words sin is not lacking”.
Proverbs 17:28 “A fool is counted wise when he holds his peace”.

James 3 speaks a lot about the tongue. A tongue us under the cage of teeth – this shows us that it needs to be strictly controlled.
Quotation: “We have two ears and one tongue in order that we should hear more and talk less.”

Be slow to anger
Anger is not in God’s plan for a Christian - (Thess. 5:9) “God has not appointed us to anger”.
Behavioural scientists tell us that “this behaviour of anger comes as a result of frustration and this frustration is brought by not getting our way or when things are not done your own way.”
The American English word that clearly describes anger is this way – Mummy or Daddy is mad at us today – anger is associated with madness.
Careless words always accompany the angry mood. Anger hinders the prayers of a believer. Learn to be at peace with yourself and you will enjoy God’s blessings. Anger gives the devil a foothold. (Eph. 4:27)
When you permit anger to guide you, you are no longer guided by the Spirit of God. There is a saying which says, “When anger enters the mind, wisdom flees away”. Most of us get angry at the wrong things.

The danger of man’s anger
Vs. 20 “Man’s anger does not produce the righteousness of God.”
The Bible warns us to stop anger because it produces worthless results. If you are angry you cannot do any of the good God wants you to do. The anger of man is opposed to the righteousness of God. Some take this spirit into the house of worship. Anger blocks a passage of truth in our minds. The righteousness of God comes to us as we seek to do the will of God. The person who gets angry goes contrary to this because the Bible tells us to seek the kingdom of God first, not our own will or interests.

The teaching is clear; be quick to listen, be slow to speak, be slow to anger.

The question might be – How can I do all this? The answer is found in the next verse.

Vs. 21(a) “Lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness”.
The spiritual house needs daily spring cleaning, because God’s Word cannot dwell in a filthy house. (1 Corr. 6:19 – 20) “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?”
Filthiness can prevent God’s Word from having access to our hearts. Sin is a defiling thing; it is called filthiness. It speaks about everything that is corrupt and sinful. Our words and outbursts of anger reveal the true person within us. As we become more and more possessed by the Holy
Spirit, we will increasingly enjoy the overflow of fruitful life found in Gal. 5:22 which is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

After you have done vs. 21(a) then verse 21(b) will be possible.

Vs. 21(b) Receiving God’s Word
(How?) with meekness the (implanted, grafted) word, what is it able to do? It is able to save your souls.

James compares God’s Word to seed and the human heart to soil. In Matt. 13, Jesus describes four kinds of hearts:

• HARD HEART – did not understand or receive the word.
• SHALLOW HEART – very emotional but has no depth.
• CROWDED HEART – lacked repentance and permitted sin to crowd out the word.
• FRUITFUL HEART – received the word, allowed it to take root and produce.

Conclusion
Victory comes as we welcome the Word and respond to its challenges through repentance and faith. Then we walk in the truth of grafted word.

Remember to be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.