Quick to Hear, Slow to Speak
OPENING PRAYER:
Spirit, calm my soul and mind as I seek to listen and grow today.
READ:
“My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the Word planted in you, which can save you.” James 1:19-21
REFLECT:
I have two pre-teens at my house. Comments and retorts, often sarcastic and full of attitude, are the normal battle right now in our home. They think they know everything, and I know that will only get worse as we navigate the teenage years.
Often, when I’m giving direction on something my kids need to do, I get immediate responses that overshadow my instruction. There are a lot of times where they end up having to re-do something because they failed to listen to what was being requested in the first place.
Something you’ll hear regularly in our home is, “Are you listening to understand or are you listening to reply?” I use this on my kids all the time, but also try and keep it at the forefront of my mind as I go about each day.
How often in our everyday conversations – at home, in the workplace, with our friends, and even in church – do we listen with our minds focused on how we’ll reply to what is being said, rather than on understanding what is actually being said?
Hearing what someone is actually saying rather than just trying to come up with our quippy or intelligent responses to what they’re saying is a damaging thing. So it is with the way that we listen to God and read his Word.
APPLY:
As we dig into scripture, do we approach it with a humble mind and heart, or do we go into it with a teenage-like attitude that we already know it all? Do we go in defensively and try to retort what we read? Do we read it in context or pick and choose what sounds like something we’d like to carry with us?
Let us approach scripture in a humble way, to receive it and carry it with us to speak truth rather than anger. Let us be quick to listen and hear what God actually has to say to us and slow to reply with our opinions and defensive positions.
CLOSING PRAYER:
Spirit, help me lean into your promptings as I go about my days. Help me listen well every time I approach scripture or an encounter with creation.