Slow to speak

SLOW TO SPEAK

Understand this, my dear brothers: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. (James 1:19-20 NLT)

Have you noticed how people within a group tend to interrupt one another within their conversation?  How difficult it is to attentively listen! How easy it is to speak more than what’s needed!

Have you ever had an important conversation with a person who has two ears, but seems to have ten mouths?

It is difficult to communicate effectively with those types of people!
They have a very short attention span when it comes to listening.
Even though they have closed their ten mouths for three seconds, this doesn’t mean that they are listening to you, because in their mind they are thinking of what they want to say next, in their brain they keep moving their ten mouths, in their mind the only sound that they hear are sounds like these: “blablablabla”.

It seems as though, even though these people have ears nothing goes in, or perhaps they hear from one ear and it comes out of the other one.

Characteristics:

  • They have difficulty concentrating on a topic.
  • They lose focus easily.
  • They almost always want to be right.
  •  They have the necessity of feeling that they’ve won the argument.
  • In their own opinion, they are almost always the ones who “know the most”.
  • They almost always have to have the last word, they have to be the last ones to speak.
  • They do not validate what you just said (because they did not even listen).

NOTE: If you do not suffer from having someone like that in your friendships, then, it is likely that you are that person.

Understand this, my dear brothers … You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. (James 1:19-20 NLT)

Think about it:
Do you think it is possible to feel encouraged in the midst of difficulties?
What makes you feel encouraged in those difficult moments?
How does it make you feel when you see fruit in your job or ministry?