Good Monday Friends,

James 1:19-20 “My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.”

I know you may be thinking, “Wow Chuck, what a random verse to begin this blog with. Has somebody made you mad?” My simple response is that this is real life and there are many opportunities for each of us to be angry… every day. These are just two verses I read this morning that really jumped off the page and I thought to expound upon the topic for my first anger management blog. Enjoy!

So… when was the last time it happened to you? Think back to the last time soooo much pressure built up inside and you did everything you knew to do to keep turning the other cheek… and then it happened… you SNAPPED with a capital S! Be honest here… you are amongst friends! Let’s face it everyone… we’ve all been pretty peeved a time or two in our lives haven’t we? The first step to recovery is to admit you have a problem.

In todays stressed out society, there is so much SNAPPING going on! So many people seem to be living right at the edge of their SNAPPING point. And SNAPPING never helps a situation does it? It only makes things far worse.

James 1:19-20 “My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.”

EVERYONE should be QUICK to listen… SLOW to speak… and SLOW to become angry. Sounds easy enough, doesn’t it? Just three simple steps to a SNAP free life! 

Listening is a vital part of conflict resolution… and when we lose our ability to listen, we disable out our ability to gather the vital information we need to make proper decisions. One of the first signs of anger is that we are no longer able to hear anything but the fire raging in our mind.

Once we stop listening, we simultaneously speak… louder and faster… and faster and louder… not realizing that we are heading for a certain disaster. A mouth seized by an angry spirit is one of the most dangerous weapons known to man.

So then according to these verses, listening MORE and speaking LESS go along with being SLOW TO ANGER. If we can open our ears and adequately direct our words, tonality, and body language… if we can do this and learn to do it well… we will keep God in control of our most stressful circumstances.  

Self control is listed in the Bible as one of the nine FRUITS of the Holy Spirit… it is a promise for every follower of Jesus. Let us pray and believe to have this promise and let us aim to become the BEST listeners, the MOST CAREFUL speakers… and the slowest people on the face of the earth to SNAP. 

I know this sounds much easier than it actually is. All spiritual victory begins with a new revelation, a new commitment to change, and a PRAYER OF FAITH! So, just reading this blog takes you a great big step closer to a far more peaceful future. You can do it… you can overcome… because with God ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE! 

Have an amazing day everyone! We love you guys and we just finished praying for you all!