“Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.”
These verses are another “Heads up, Christian! I’m about to say something extra important!” moment. Understand this. Okay, I’m paying attention. Grabbing my notebook and pencil to start taking notes. What do I need to understand? Be quick to listen. Ok. Slow to speak. Hrrrmmm. Slow to get angry. (Flashes to multiple examples of anger from last week, breaks note-taking pencil…)
Anger is bad for you. Filth and evil are bad for you. God’s word has the power to save you. So why is it so hard to listen, keep our mouths shut, not get angry, and stay away from filth? Just a thought, but perhaps it is because our culture says the exact opposite to us every single day. Speak your mind, don’t let anyone walk on you, watch this TV show called “Filth and Evil.” The Christian life is the total opposite of American expectations. And in James’ world it must have been happening too.
The only way to accomplish this revolutionary, other worldly attitude in which you listen, hold back and maintain peace is to humbly accept the word God has placed in your heart. What is that word? There could be a lot of answers, including his laws and his promises. But to me, there is just one important word: love. God has said, “I love you. I have more for you. The world has nothing but fake, shiny things that disappoint as soon as you get your hands on them. Come with me and I’ll show you a better way.” Today will you join me in humbly receiving an undeserved love that transforms?