Love is such a thing that should be a discernible quality of our ever-present character, and love should always put others above ourselves. In this guiding force of love, James writes that we should be swift to hear.
To digest such a statement is to say that when others have a concern, a joy, or a word to express, our ears should quickly become attentive. Our tendency should be to give our full attention to, and to engage ourselves in understanding, not only what someone is saying, but what motivates them to say it; we must look into the heart of others. This is simply an act of genuine love. To express to an individual that they are cherished and worthy enough for you to give them your time and focus, and that hearing them, just that they may be heard, edifies them in love, and reinforces their intrinsic value as God’s child; a value frequently attacked by Satan. 1:19b, “slow to speak,” In further demonstration of our love, we must be slow to speak. Primarily for these two reasons:
Speaking just to speak is rarely a desirable quality. Our speech is best when articulated with careful thought, and when equally measured by response within a conversation. Beyond the act of authentically caring for others, being swift to hear and slow to speak also builds a patient and successful character needed to exercise our final command of this verse, which is to be “slow to wrath.” 1:19c, “slow to wrath;” If we cannot control our own tongue, and if patience is found so far from us that we cannot bear in silence for the sake of others, then surely to restrain our wrath is a daunting task. But, we must be reminded of, and edified by, the very character of God, who being endlessly blasphemed and offended by the frailest of His creation, through love, endures in patience with our sin that His mercy and kindness might lead us to repentance. For why we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8), that He might express His love, and demonstrate our value. In the same way, we must bear with others to show that we indeed have some comprehension of God’s mercy, and demonstrate it that others too may experience the Lord’s mercy for themselves. 1:20, “for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” While God in His infinite patience and justice may pour out His wrath and be found guiltless, we are much more susceptible to error, to sin, and to ultimately destructive tendencies. Therefore, the wrath of man cannot produce the righteousness of God, for such would require perfect judgment, and to be righteous is to be “in right standing with” those whom righteousness is in relationship with. While God does at times use man to execute His wrath for the sake of liberation, to act on our own accord or to be anything less than “slow” to wrath, in a very conservative understanding, is to fall on dangerous ground. Rather, the Lord in His right to speak, to dismiss, and to let His wrath fall upon us in our sin, spent the blood of His own Son to shows us “a more excellent way” (1 Co. 12:31 preparing for chapter 13). May we then walk in the love of God and render each not their right or just due, but the affection and affirmation that belongs to beloved children of God, and let us safeguard ourselves from being stolen, as tools, into the hands of the enemy. Go, and be blessed.
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Darrin MillerWorking for the Lord. Archives
October 2016
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