James 1: 19:  “Know this my beloved brothers, let everyone be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.”  James wrote this verse directly to Christians (beloved brothers) which means and applies to each of us.  I remind you that we live and lead our lives daily in five areas:  personal, family, work, church and community.  James’ admonition and instruction applies equally to each of these areas.  What does he mean by saying, “quick to hear?”  He means quick to hear God’s Word through the Holy Spirit during times when wrong words or actions of anger from us could hurt other people, ourselves and our witness of Christ.  This should cause us to pause and not speak words in anger that cannot be taken back once they come out of our mouths.  In our world today, this applies to all social media and we need to know where the delete button is on our electronic devices.    James clearly tells us to be slow to anger.  Anger usually arises from what we hear, often speak and actions by other people.  If we let anger go disregarding what we hear from God’s Word and the Holy Spirit, James then tells us the results:  “The anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.”  A principle in life and our Christian walk is that actions always have consequence, either good or bad.  This always applies to anger. No one likes to be around someone who may explode at any moment.

Proverbs 30: 33: “So stirring up anger produces strife.”  As a leader in daily life, we must realize this principle as we lead and interact with other people.  Domestic violence is almost always a product of anger.  Husband/wife, parent/child, work related and church related strife is usually the product of anger.  Our spiritual principle in leading our families is clearly stated in the Bible where we are told to not “provoke our children to anger.” We must be willing to hear them, be slow to speak and slow to anger. This is not easy in the teenage years when they seem to know it all.  So, what are we to do?  When our anger begins to boil up, we are to listen to God’s Word, be slow to speak in an outburst and take time to control our emotions of anger.  If not, we damage our relationships and our example of a life in which Christ lives.  On more than one occasion at work, I have written a letter in anger only to tear it up and throw it in the trash when I listened to what God was telling me.  A leader has two ears and only one mouth, so use them according to God’s Word.