Quick to Listen, Slow to Speak, Slow to Anger

In one paragraph

Brad preached from James 1:19-20, the familiar command to be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry. He pressed the congregation not to treat it as optional wisdom, like a mother telling you to eat your vegetables, but as a direct command from God that calls us toward genuine heart change, not just better behavior. The sermon drew heavily on Brad's own struggle with a sharp...

Read together

1. James 1:19-20 the main text of the sermon, quoted in full from NASB
2. Romans 5 God loved us while we were still enemies
3. Romans 12:1 making our lives a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God
4. Ephesians 6 putting on the armor of God before battle, the Roman shields imagery
5. Ecclesiastes 5 God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few
6. Matthew 21 one of two temple cleansings recorded by Matthew, Jesus driving out money changers
7. 1 Peter 2 Peter describing Jesus not insulting in return while suffering on the cross
8. 2 Timothy 2 the call on your life means your life is no longer your own
9. 1 Corinthians 15 labor for the Lord is never in vain
10. Romans 14 when we know what to do and do not do it, it is sin
11. John 3 Jesus calling Nicodemus to be reborn
12. John 15 remaining in God to bear much fruit, cited in closing prayer

Talk about it

1. Brad talked about the difference between white-knuckling your way through a biblical command and allowing God to change the source. Where in your life have you been putting Brita filters on salt water instead of connecting to a new source?
2. Brad shared that he had a subtle, unexamined fear of being seen as a passive husband and father, and that fear was driving his anger rather than godly conviction. What fears or unexamined motivations do you think might be driving some of your own reactions toward the people closest to you?
3. Brad described the experience of having a mentor, his wife, and close friends gather around and tell him hard truths as feeling like surgery without anesthesia. Have you ever had someone speak that kind of hard truth to you in love? What made it possible to receive it, or what made it hard?
4. Brad drew a distinction between anger that is for yourself and anger that is genuinely for God's glory, and said that for those who struggle with anger the safest approach is to treat all of it as suspect. How do you personally try to tell the difference, and how reliable do you find that process?
5. Brad ended by saying that if we do this right we won't be thought of as clever or sharp or cool, but we will have deeper and more loving relationships and will be more Christlike. Where do you feel the tension most between wanting to be seen a certain way and actually living out quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to become angry?