“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 NLT

Reflexes are quick, and many are involuntary. Enter a dimly lit room, for example, and your pupils will dilate. There is very little that you can do to change that.

Reactions, however, are a bit different. They are quick and may feel involuntary, but in reality we can train ourselves to change our reaction to certain stimuli. For example, when we see an object approaching us at a high speed our natural reaction is to jump out of the way, but baseball players train themselves to overcome that instinct and lean toward the ball in order to hit it with more force.

When someone says something that we don’t like, our natural reaction is to respond and give them a piece of our mind. But James 1:19 teaches us that we can train ourselves to live a different way.

In Christ our first reaction should be to listen, not to speak.

How different would our world be if Christians were known for how they listened and not for what they said?

Here’s a prayer to carry with you today:

Breathe in: Jesus,
Breathe out: Teach me to listen.