LIFE GROUP DISCUSSION GUIDE
Wednesday Night, September 12, 2007 “Words, Words, Words”
James 1:19-27
5 Minutes - Welcome / Prayer
5 Minutes - OPEN
We all do it. While someone else is talking, we’re thinking about what we're going to say next instead of listening to the person talking to you. We know others are worth more care and attention. We know better, but the habit is hard to break! God wants us to slow down and listen.
Anyone had a conversation today which in retrospect you would acknowledge that you're not pleased with how you listened?
Why is it so difficult for you to be a good listener?
15 Minutes - DIG
James states his conviction in 1:18 that God chose to give us “spiritual birth” so that we can become a “kind of firstfruits of all he created.” God desires there to be a new beat and rhythm to our life. A new character. He wants us to reflect His grace and power. This is a central message of James' writing!
From this point forward in his letter, James specifically asked his readers to “take note” of three exhortations he gives them:
* Be quick to listen;
* Be slow to speak;
* Be slow to anger.
It is no wonder he starts out in his letter emphasizing these disciplines. Why?
How can being “quick to listen and slow to speak” help us to be “slow to become angry” (v. 19)?
Go a step further. Read Jesus’ words in Matthew 18:15, “If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.”
Listening is powerful, but it is a learned commodity. We should listen more than we speak. It’s pretty obvious – God designed us with two ears and only one mouth. But so many of us just don’t listen well. And I would suggest this starts with our failure to listen to God!
Try something. In your prayer life this week, instead of talking to God so much about your own stuff, try listening to God. That may take you to scripture. It may demand you just be still and listen for God’s gentle voice!
Have you ever tried to have a relationship with someone who talks all the time? As much as you try, it is hard to get close to someone where only one-way communication is taking place. Seriously, some of us are that way in our relationship with God and we never really get to know Him!
Don’t blow over this! Let the group react to these thoughts suggesting that some of us just don’t do well listening to God.
When have you experienced the truth that “man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires” (v. 20)?
When you see a Christian husband get angry and verbally attack his wife out in public, is your immediate reaction to question the character and righteousness of his life? Does this outburst give you a glimpse into the real character of the man?
What are the things in your life which threaten to choke out God’s Word which is planted in you (v. 21)?
In your own words explain how the person who merely listens is different from the one who puts God’s Word into practice (vv. 22-25)?
James used the illustration of a person looking intently into a mirror. This “mirror” concept is a reader’s key to understanding this section of James’ letter.
James implied two mistakes that occur when the believer fails to act upon the word: (1) the believer doesn’t treat the truth of the word as reality; and (2) the believer ignores the message of the word.
James told his readers that it is “the law that gives freedom.” What is this freedom (Rom. 6:18-22; 2 Cor. 3:17; Gal. 2:4; 5:1, 13-14; 6:2)?
According to verses 26 and 27, how do people who think they are religious differ from those who are truly religious?
It is sometimes much easier to follow a rule than to love your enemy or pursue justice, mercy, and the weightier matters of the law. Could it be that someone could actually feel secure and righteous while pursuing an unrighteous life? The evidence of this is overwhelming, as people behave unjustly, unmercifully, and un-lovingly. In following what become religious rules and regulations, people rationalize and become desensitized to their arrogant, selfish, mean-spirited behavior that evidences itself in the junk that comes out of our mouths.
We should always check ourselves and make sure that pursuing justice and mercy are primary acts of "religion" and that we’ve not relegated such to minor points of doctrine and practice.
Do you really believe these are core values of our Christian faith?
15 Minutes - REFLECT
What does it mean to be “slow to speak”? Is he talking about words being strategic, thoughtful, measured, and discerning?
Consider these words of wisdom from King Solomon on this subject – Proverbs 10:10; 13:3; 29:20.
What is the reason you talk too much?
A key thought in this whole section is the possibility that some of us imagine ourselves to be religious while avoiding the disciplines that keep us from falling prey to “self-deception.”
One characteristic of self-deception in the believer’s life is an empty show of religious devotion. With strong language, James taught that such religion is worthless!
How would you define religion that is pure and faultless?
James used a graphic word, “pollution,” to make his final point in this section about the contaminants of ungodly actions and attitudes that we allow into our lives. Why is the idea of pollution an appropriate word picture?
5 Minutes - CLOSING PRAYER
From this discussion, what are those things you feel compelled to pray about tonight?
Pray about these matters one by one and bring them before your Heavenly Father.
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