Let’s put it in cornbread English: “We must put the brakes on our speech and press the throttle on our ears.” When possible, we should allow our emotional temperature to cool for a few days before responding, pray to determine whether we need to respond, carefully prepare a response (written or verbal), and then carefully edit and filter it before delivering our message – especially when we have a zinger. We keep our mouths shut, our hearts pure and our ears open. Now, if we would all follow the teachings of James 1:19-21 throughout this passage, we would all be more blessed:
My dear brothers and sisters, consider this: Everyone must be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry, for human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all the moral filth and evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word implanted in you, which can save you.
Powerful and holy God, you are incredible – beyond my understanding. It is beyond my understanding how you tolerate all the meaningless, senseless verbal comments, gossip and hurtful speech made by your other children. Dear Father, I ask you to release the Holy Spirit to convict my heart and protect my lips from any kind of hurtful speech. Therefore, dear Father, we ask that You grow the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) and a true Christ-likeness within us (2 Corinthians 3:18) so that our words and hearts reflect You and bless others as You will. We pray that we will treat others the way Jesus did. Amen.
