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“There is no fault which makes a man more unpopular, and no fault which we are more unconscious of in ourselves. And the more we have it ourselves, the more we dislike it in others. The vice I am talking of is Pride. . . .

The book of James is right around the corner for us as a church family. Full of almost proverbial wisdom, James hits us close to home on a variety of practical issues. Before we get to it, though, I thought it would be good to consider what James 1:19-25 should teach us about how we hear this next sermon series. We do a lot of listening. It’s an integral part of our Christian lives to listen to sermons, as well as to other Christians speaking into our lives personally. So it’s also a constant challenge to actually hear the way God intends us too. In this crucial discipline of hearing, God has not left us without instruction.

I hate being tricked. Telemarketers using the guise of “surveys” doubly annoy me, magic tricks make my brain hurt, and scam artists make my blood boil. Unfortunately, my heart is the best deceiver I know. When it comes to hearing, I’m concerned that I share a weakness to deception with all the rest of you. I can hear, and hear, and hear, and still not do. In James 1:22-25, James probingly moves on from the right attitudes in hearing to the right actions.