These qualities are needed in trials: Be quick to listen to the Word of God, be slow to speak/blame God for your trials and temptations, and don't get mad easily when things don't go your way/when you face trials. Anger is not the response God wants. When we Christians give vent to wrath, we are not exemplifying the righteous kind of living that God desires. It displeases God. Do you think a Christian who seems to be angry or grumpy all the time will make an effective witness for the Lord...will draw people to Christ? Very unlikely. He/she is more likely to turn people off and away from Christianity.
Let's put James 1:19 into practice daily! Our family and friends will be very grateful and feel loved. Essentially, these are some ways we show our love: taking time to listen attentively without interrupting, carefully watching what and how we communicate orally (words can help, heal, or hurt), and not being easily angered/annoyed/frustrated/irritated.
It doesn't do much good to hear God's Word, hold our tongue, and be patient then turn around and engage ourselves in the world's filthy lusts and pleasures. Love God; hate sin! We must get rid of all evil desires, attitudes, words, and deeds. We need spiritual consistency in every area of our lives. When one continues to live in sin, he/she has no desire to read/study God's Word because God's Word contradicts and convicts his/her lifestyle. Moral filth and evil in our lives hinder God's Word from effectively working spiritual maturity in us. They can make us deaf to God's voice (the Holy Spirit's leading) and Word. A receptive heart prepares the soil for the implanted Word of God to blossom by removing all the weeds. "The seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the Word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop." (Luke 8:15) James is not teaching spiritual perfection here but he is telling believers to put their faith in action and to confess their sins to God (and they'll be cleansed from all unrighteousness). Continue to receive God's teaching in humility/with meekness (teachable spirit). "When you receive the Word with meekness, you accept it, do not argue with it, and honor it as the Word of God. You do not try to twist it to conform it to your thinking." (Warren Wiersbe) When the Word of God is implanted within our hearts (not a mere head knowledge), our soul is saved from spiritual disaster (including fleshly lures, temptations, worldliness, sinning) and from apathy for God's kingdom work.
"Have you done a heart check lately? If your heart is apathetic to God’s word, James says, “Be quick to hear.” If you’re prone to spout off arrogantly with how much you know, James says, “Be slow to speak.” If you’re fighting some aspect of the word that you don’t like, James says, “Be slow to anger.” If you’re tolerating the crud of sin, James says, “Put aside all filthiness.” If you’re resisting God’s commands that are designed to rescue you from sin, James says, “In humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.” (Cole)
"It is not the ship in the water but the water in the ship that sinks it. So it is not the Christian in the world but the world in the Christian that constitutes the danger. Anything that dims my vision of Christ, or takes away my taste for Bible study, or cramps my prayer life, or makes Christian work difficult, is wrong for me, and I must, as a Christian, turn away from it." (J. Wilbur Chapman)
Prayer: Father, thank You for Your mercy and forgiveness! Thank You for being patient with me as I fail time and time again. Please help me to listen attentively, speak kindly, and respond calmly in any situation. Please empower me to not be easily offended but to be quick to forgive when wronged. Please reveal to me anything in my life that does not please or honor You and enable me to get rid of them. Your Word is my delight. Show me Your ways, teach me Your paths, lead me in Your truth, and mold me into Christlikeness. In Jesus's Name, I pray. Amen.
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