My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry. (James 1:19)One of the hardest lessons I learned in my life was when to keep my mouth shut. The things I think are not always good to share. And many people come to me for counseling, come, not because they want to hear what I have to say, but to talk it out themselves.
And besides, I always had a smart mouth, one quick on the draw. That was great for when I was on the radio as a disk jockey, but in general, it is not good.
There is not telling how many friends I alienated when I was young. If it had not been for the fact that I was so big and so strong, I would have been beaten up long ago.
And when you talk too much, you cannot hear others speak. You miss much of life that way.
James was the brother of Jesus and the senior pastor of the church at Jerusalem. He was in a position that he knew he had to be careful what he said.
Any pastor is, for that matter. I have been careful for a long time. Sometimes stuff slips out at a dumb time, but I am, after all, human. But, for the most part, I am careful.
Not long ago, someone got mad at me and spread some stories. He wrote the district and area superintendents and supervisors for the Foursquare church and tried his best to stir things up against me.
And he did. But what he said was false. And those who heard him and believed it believed a lie.
But I refused to defend myself because I would rather listen.
Listen long enough to someone and you hear amazing things. In fact, if you listen long enough, someone will generally tell you more than they intended to and will sometimes get mad at you. That is something that is strange to me, but at the same time, it happens too often.
People used to listen to me and think the same thing, I suppose. But most of mine was just smart remarks or misplaced pithy comments. Again, fine, I suppose, if you are on radio or are a comedian or something. But lousy for a preacher.
Most people get into arguments because they do not listen. Sometimes we are so quick to speak that we miss the point completely.
The same with being angry. That was a hard lesson to learn. I think I got a handle on it, but as the apostle Paul said, in 1 Corinthians 10:12, If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall.
About the time you think you have it down, you have lost it, if you are not careful.
so true about the value of listening... I'm curious about the outcome of listening to your slanderer? I often think about how Jesus listened mostly to what Pontius Pilot had to say, not justifying himself, etc... he didn't need to. As I get older I find myself content to listen vs. argue or protest or lash back with some wilting remark... my life is much more peaceful. God bless, Cynthia
ReplyDeleteI just sat and listened. The man finally ran down and left. Jesus refused to answer back and so do I. He also forgave those who were hurting him while they were busy doing so. I want to be like him.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment, Cynthia