James 1:19,20 My dear brothers and sisters, be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Your anger can never make things right in God's sight.
What would happen if we were to all take these verses to heart? Few of us are quick to listen. Listening to what others are saying is a lost art for most of us. We like to be heard. We think we have worthwhile things to say. What we fail to get is that we can't learn anything as long as we are doing all the talking. Listening is the key to learning and we all have much to learn. There is a time for speaking, but there is also time for listening. Blessed is the one who knows the difference.
Listening often disarms anger. When we truly hear what others are saying, our understanding increases. While we may not always agree with what is being said, we are more prone to hear it without getting all riled up when we listen. The more we listen to the heart of people, the better our relationship with them will be.
God doesn't need our help to chastise people when they are clearly in the wrong. God deals with us when we are wrong. Getting angry over things doesn't make things right in God's sight. God makes things right in His own time and way. All anger does is make us out-of-sync with God, others, and ourselves. Unless anger is directed at sin for righteous reasons, it is destructive and wrong.
The key to overcoming an angry spirit is to bathe our anger in prayer. We need to vent our anger before the Lord and then listen to what He has to say about how we should deal with things. When we pray before we react we squelch our anger and protect ourselves from destroying relationships.
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