“Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to
speak, and slow to get angry.” James
1:19
I think James forgot one part of this statement: …unless you are married with children.
As often as I do the opposite of what James says, you would
think his statement did include that last part. I have a terrible time following James’
advice for 2 reasons: I have to fix
everything & I don’t like when things don’t go my way.
When one of the 3 females in my house comes to me with an
issue, I immediately go into “fix-it mode” and stop listening altogether. [Yes, I am the only male living at my house
with 3 females, pray for me.] Not only
do I stop listening, but I begin analyzing their situation and start explaining
to them what they should do in order to not have whatever issue it is they are
having. After my detailed instructions
on how to resolve their issue, I am reminded that all that was required was for
me to listen, not fix anything.
Usually, this makes me frustrated because I don’t know how
to just listen. Obviously, if you’re
telling me about a problem, it must need fixing. The frustration then becomes anger and I wind
up saying or doing something that doesn’t make Jesus very happy.
So, in short, rather than following James’ advice, I tend
more toward being slow to listen, quick to speak, and quick to get angry. When this happens, bad decisions are
made.
My recommendation is this: STOP! Stop being an idiot! Listen to your spouse/kid/friend. You don’t always have to fix everything. And for heaven’s sake, save the anger for
something important – like when watching college football.
No comments:
Post a Comment