Inspired by the LGG Study, The Fruit of the Spirit / w6d3
Today’s Roadmap for the Journey: Read Proverbs 25:26-28 and James 1:19-21; SOAP: James 1:19-20
Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. 20 Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires.
~James 1:19-20
Today’s focus is on James 1:19-20, but the Roadmap for our Journey also takes us to Proverbs 25:26-28. While Proverbs can often be cryptic, verse 28 is very clear in its comparison of a broken-down city wall and a person who cannot control their anger. A city that is broken down and without a wall (or proper protection) is in jeopardy of being overtaken. The same is true of a person who has no self-control over their emotions, particularly anger. Basically, the proverb teaches that when we lack self-control, we put ourselves (and often those around us) in jeopardy as easy targets for our enemy, the devil. As we were reminded on our journey yesterday, we must practice “self-discipline” to maintain “self-control.” Otherwise, we are easy targets, susceptible to corruption and destruction.
Self-control is much like a wall against temptation. It does not make temptation go away. Yet it helps a person resist until the temptation passes or is chased off. Bibleref.com
Friends, as today’s journal entry so beautifully points out, self-control is our wall. And James tells us what we need to make the wall sturdy, suggesting three specific building blocks that will fortify our minds and hearts.
1. Be quick to listen.
2. Be slow to speak.
3. Be slow to become angry.
Some would say these are just good manners, and they are; but as the journal points out, and as I have personally learned through the years, they are more than manners ~ “they are the daily, intentional building blocks of a life that is protected and purposeful.1”
- Every time we choose to listen before we speak, pause before we react, and surrender our anger before it takes root, we are reinforcing our walls.
- And every time we react instead of respond, speak before we think, or let our emotions run unchecked, we leave ourselves exposed. Not just to our own consequences but to the enemy who is always looking for an unguarded opening.
Reflection and Application
Where are your walls today? Are there areas of your life that feel exposed and unguarded? Are there areas where your emotions, words, or habits have been running the show? The good news is that walls can always be rebuilt. God is in the business of rescuing, redeeming, and restoring. He can do so in your life, too.2
