We Talk Too Much, But Say Little

Today’s Passage – Hebrews 12 & 13; James 1

“Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:” (James 1:10)

I am very convicted by this passage of Scripture. I am often guilty of being “swift to speak” when I should be “swift to hear”. My pride causes me to to quickly evaluate and make judgments upon every situation that comes my way, and every comment or statement expressed by others in my hearing. Though, I hate to admit, my mind is often made up before I have even a small portion of the facts. I am quick to speak my mind, which is not good because it reveals to others my ignorance at times. I have become very conscious of this problem through the writing of this daily thought from the Word of God. Every day I am faced with the task of trying to communicate some truth from the daily reading that will somehow be a blessing to you who read this. But what do I know? What do I have to say? What can I add to what an omniscient Author has already said. Daily, I have become confronted with the fact that there is little that I really know. The only good news is that this awareness has caused me to beg God to help me by giving me something that will perhaps be useful to you. However, I must emphasize right here that if you read this blog daily without reading the Scripture passage that supports it, you are missing the main message and purpose of this devotional. It is only what God says in His Word that really matters. My thoughts are merely fallible attempts to share how God spoke to me from the passage. Please pray for me as I want to express my thoughts, and expound the Truth so that you might receive a blessing.

Then, notice in the passage that it says that we are to be “slow to wrath”. This again is a pride problem. “Only by pride cometh contention” I find myself becoming agitated easily with other people. I lose my patience often. Who am I to get aggravated with others. I guess at the root of my frustration is an awareness of my own limitations and faults. In other words, because my life is not what it should be or where I want it to be, I lash out at others, attempting to find some external source to place the blame. However, the reality is that I have no one to blame but myself. Even if somebody near me does something to hurt me or adversely affect my plans or goals for the day, I must understand that I cannot control the actions of others; and even if they meant it for evil, God allowed it in my life for some good reason. It may be that He is just trying to teach me to be more patient with people and “slow[er] to wrath”.

Finally, I want to notice a few verses beyond our text verse above to verse 22:

“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”

We certainly are to be “swift to hear” the Word of God; but it must not go in one ear and out of the other. We must ask God to clearly reveal to us where application of the Word needs to be made to our lives; and then we must yield to what God wants us to do.