The book of James is very practical for application in a Christian’s everyday life. In chapter 1, verses 19 and 20, James starts out by reminding the reader to “Understand this,” which notes that we must ponder and really consider the things that are discussed. It almost stands as a warning.
James then refers to those he write to as “Dear brothers and sisters.” Writing in such a fashion denotes that James cares deeply about the people who would read his letter. He wishes for them to take to heart the words that he shares. The words should be considered valuable.
As James continues he states, “You must be quick to listen, slow to speak.” This implies that listening is not a voluntary request. Each of us MUST listen. It is imperative. More specifically, we must be quick to listen. We should listen to others, but we should more importantly listen to God. He can speak to us through His Word, in prayer, or possibly through other people. The important things is that we must have ears to hear. We will not be able to listen if we are constantly speaking. As the saying goes, that is why God gave us two ears and one mouth. We should listen twice as much as we speak.
James continues his list by writing, “slow to get angry.” This can be a difficult task for you and I. There are situations and certain individuals that could cause us to explode. Yet, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, James reminds us to be slow to anger. If we are quick to listen to others, the anger should not fester within us because we are earnestly trying to understand what someone else is trying to say.
James continues in verse 20 by discussing “human anger [which] does not produce the righteousness God desires.” Human anger is self seeking. When we are in this state, we are not considering others, and we definitely are not thinking about God and how he would view the situation. We are not living the right way. Human anger can flare up when we are not in the Word of God. Our flesh takes on a sense of entitlement and we become blind to the feelings of others. I know we all have had a time when we grew angry and it overtook us, causing us to say something that we regret. We can look back and become baffled that we would ever say such a thing. Anger can cloud our judgment and it ultimately separates us from God. We are not producing the righteousness that God would desire. For this reason, James remind us to be quick to listen and slow to anger.