What does First B Jackson teach about slow to speak?
Drawn from the messages where it was actually addressed: the words said from the front, the passages taught, and where to hear the whole thing.
At First B Jackson, the teaching on being slow to speak starts with a refusal to treat James 1:19-20 as friendly advice. Brad Yates opened that passage and pressed the congregation to reckon with what it actually asks: not a modest improvement over who you used to be, but a whole orientation of life. The test he put to the room was honest and direct. Would the people closest to you, your spouse, your children, your coworkers, actually describe you as quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry? Most of us measure our progress against our pre-Christian selves, and a little improvement starts to feel like faithfulness. The text does not leave room for that.
Brad was equally clear that white-knuckling your way toward this command will not get you there. Using the image of bad water in the pipes of a house, he argued that no filter turns salt water into fresh water. The source has to change. Spiritual disciplines, community, and scripture are not about proving piety; they are ways of staying connected to the right source so that what flows out of you begins to look more like what God is calling you toward. He made this personal, describing his own sharp tongue, something that had gotten him ahead professionally but was doing damage at home. Underneath it was a fear of being passive, and that fear was running him rather than the Spirit. The breakthrough came when he recognized he did not need to act as the Holy Spirit for his family. He could trust God and lead with a long-term view rather than reacting out of wounded pride.
Nick brought the same passage to a Tuesday evening and filled it out from a different angle, noting that the culture around us feeds the exact opposite habit, pushing people toward instant opinions and righteous outrage. He also worked through James's warning that anyone who does not bridle the tongue is deceiving himself about his own religion. Both Brad and Nick point the congregation toward the same conclusion: slow speech and slow anger are not temperament questions. They are fruit of a heart that has genuinely been changed, shaped by community, confession, and a daily return to what God has already done.
Taught from James 1:19-20 · James 3 · James 1:19-27 · Romans 12:1 · Ecclesiastes 5
The passage taught · 1 Corinthians 15
1 Now I declare to you, brothers, the Good News which I preached to you, which also you received, in which you also stand,
2 by which also you are saved, if you hold firmly the word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
World English Bible
Messages that go deeper
- November 3, 2024 Nov 3rd Service with Guest Speaker Brad Yates Brad walks through James 1:19-20, showing why being quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger is a command of the heart, not just good advice.
- November 3, 2024 Quick to Listen, Slow to Speak, Slow to Anger James 1:19 calls us to be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger. Brad explores why this is heart change, not willpower, and why it matters.
- November 3, 2024 Quick to Listen, Slow to Speak, Slow to Become Angry Brad speaks from James 1:19-20 on being quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger, and why lasting change comes from the gospel, not willpower.
- March 29, 2022 Quick to Listen, Slow to Speak, Slow to Anger James 1 taught at First Baptist Jackson: be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger, and put God's word into practice rather than just hearing it.