Quick to Listen, Slow to Speak, Slow to Judge

THOSE who are quick to judge thwart the meaning of love.

They cut off the love that could be theirs to give by interjecting with their curtness. Brusque etiquette is always a recipe for disaster. Everyone can see the pride rearing up in someone who is quick to judge. Pride begets anger. And anger is what underlies someone who is prepared to cut people off to get their own way. They might intend on showing their love, but they thwart themselves on their very way. This is one reason why the “love wins” campaign falls flat. Those who point the finger at “hypocritical Christians” do not realise they, themselves, are failing love’s most basic test. Those accused of hypocrisy in terms of love are given the perfect opportunity to exemplify meekness. People who love don’t necessarily have the best counterargument. They absorb hurts in a forgiving way.

Those who mean to love thwart those who are quick to judge.

When we have the humility of meekness, which is to love no-matter-what, we have what it takes in meaning to love. We easily thwart those who are quick to judge, for no spoken response would be good enough to thwart them otherwise. If we are serious about love, which is nothing about winning, and the acceptance of losing a battle to win the war of souls, we will routinely frustrate those who are pretending to love, but are too quick to judge to ever prove authentic. This Christianly love overcomes.

Those who are mean with love are thwarted by being quick to judge.

Being mean with our love is shown up in our being quick to judge. By being quick to judge we show ourselves as being mean with our love. Such a love as a mean love is, of course, no love at all. It falls flat and can hence be described in many other terms, and none of those is even close to love.

Being mean with love thwarts those who are quick to judge.

When those who are mean with their love transfer their subconscious anger onto others, without knowing it, meaning they are quick to judge, the effect is they are quick to judge. To be mean with love is to be quick to judge.

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This, of course, is the biblical principle of James 1:19-21 — be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger.

There are three sure ways to love: 1) be quick to listen; 2) be slow to speak; 3) be slow to anger.

In a world that thinks love is an emotion we have the opportunity of showing love is action based in meek humility.

© 2015 Steve Wickham.