Know this, My Beloved Brothers

When we come to James 1:19-20, we see what seems to be a set of isolated exhortations about anger. People often use them this way. However, these verses are still in a particular context, and they have to do with our attitude towards and our relationship with the Word of God. This is about submitting to God’s Word, getting into alignment with God’s will.

Vs.18 teaches us that it all starts with the Word; that is how we are born again, that is how we become part of the kingdom of God. And the Word of God is also how we grow and mature, and the Word of God is what equips us to mature through the trials we face in life.

Now having said that, these verses do have something to say about why we have such trouble with anger. So as we unpack this passage, and as we move forward into vs.21, we will see how our deep seated anger spills over into more overt displays and feelings of anger in everyday life. But we need to learn what this passage is addressing first, before we apply it further, so hold on, and listen up. Otherwise you will be committing the very crime this passage is warning about.

God wants to make sure we realize some things about our relationship with His Word. There are three things, three aspects we will look at today that define the proper attitude and response of a Christian to the Word of God. Knowing this will unlock the reason why we often struggle with anger in our lives, because the answer to anger is a proper attitude and response to God’s Word.

We have to be ready to listen to the truth (quick to hear), ready to learn the truth (slow to speak), and ready to live the truth (slow to anger).