19 So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; 20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
*****James is telling us here that we need to do more listening than talking. When we do all the talking, we make the other person feel that we don't find what they have to say is of any value. As a Christian, one must be willing to listen to others and consider what is being said. It is also considered to be using wisdom when we wait to speak, as well as when we respond to a harsh word with a loving word.
When sin and injustice occur, we should be angry with a righteous anger, because others are being hurt by those sins. But we should not display selfish anger which can stem from losing an argument or from feeling neglected or offended. When we have selfish anger, we are not considered wise, but considered a fool.
Proverbs 10:19
19 In the multitude of words sin is not lacking,
But he who restrains his lips is wise.
Proverbs 15 :1
1 A soft answer turns away wrath,
But a harsh word stirs up anger.
Ecclesiastes 7:9
9 Do not hasten in your spirit to be angry,
For anger rests in the bosom of fools.
21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
*****James is informing us that we need to get rid of all that is wrong in our lives. We may never reach (spiritual) perfection, but it is our job to strive for it..and God knows whether we are true-to-heart in these matters. Only the message of salvation, can save us. Only God's Word with the Holy Spirit's guidance can direct us according to all that is right. The Word keeps the heart soft and the spirit and mind renewed to the things of God.
Ephesians 1:13-14
13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
Ephesians 4:22-23
22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
1 Peter 2:1-2
1 Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, 2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
Matthew 7:21
21 �Not everyone who says to Me, �Lord, Lord,� shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
Matthew 7:26
26 �But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:
Romans 2:13
13 (for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified;
*****It is important to hear and take in God's word through preaching, teaching and personal study, but it is even more important to obey it and apply it to our lives. Obedience to God brings freedom from bondage of guilt and shame that sin has attached to it. Sin separates us from Christ because it keeps us from moving forward to freedom in Him. It is simply foolish to hear the word and not do it. Christ likens it to someone who builds his house on the sand...and as we know, sand is unstable and sinking.
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