Be quick to hear, slow to speak
and slow to anger.
—James 1:19
I had an email last night from the daughter of a man I’ve known and admired for years, informing me that he had passed away.
I suppose he had some flaws; if so, I never saw them. The first verse that came to my mind was James 3:2—“If a person never makes a mistake in what he says, he is perfect and is also able to control his whole being.”
I never heard this good man say anything that he would later have reason to regret. He always weighed his words before letting them leave his lips. He appeared to have every aspect of his life under control—as James said would be the case for those who govern their words.
He was “quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger.”
The strongest aren’t those who control others,
but those who control self.