BEING "HASTY"
You know, the bible talks a lot
about hasty speaking and hasty actions. There wasn’t much good that it had to
say about being hasty. You see, when you are hasty, you are rushing to speak or
do something without taking the time to think, consider, or get all of the
information on a specific situation. Therefore, you are going in ignorantly
with your guns drawn without knowing the situation you are going into. You are
basically blind.
What does hasty mean? Hasty
means to rush into an act without due deliberation. Hasty means to press, to be
urgent, too speedy, too hurried or too quick without much thinking about it.
Shakespeare
said, “Hasty marriage seldom proveth well”.
Arthur
Geddes said, “Hasty makeshifts take the place of planning”.
These men knew what they were
talking about in dealing with being hasty. When we are making decisions, we
should always take the time to think atleast of the best direction to go to
reach our desired outcome. Well, the scriptures also have a lot to say about
being hasty, let’s find out.
Proverbs
21:5 – “The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness; but of every
one that is hasty only to want.”
Here, it is telling us that if
we actually take the time to think before we act, we will have plenty; but if
we just act without thinking, it will come to naught… in other words, we will
be unsuccessful at what we are trying to accomplish because we didn’t take the
time to think about it and plan.
Proverbs
29:20 – “Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words? There is more hope of a
fool than of him.”
Too often we put our foot in
our mouths because we speak in haste without thinking of the consequences. The
scriptures tell us that a fool has more hope than a person that is hasty with
his words.
My
Testimony: I find that when someone is talking to me, before they have
the opportunity to say everything they wanted to say, before they even got
their point across, I’d interrupt them with what I have to say. I realized that
I was doing this and it irritated me to find out that I began doing this thing
that I hate people doing to me. So, I decided to purposely pay attention to my
actions in that area. I had to focus on what they were saying and not thinking
of what I would say in response. Instead, I had to truly listen and consider
their words. I even reverberated back to them what was said to be sure that I
go it right… confirmation for understanding. It is an uphill battle once it
gets a hold of you because it becomes a bad habit. However, God has helped me
to overcome that and He can help you to do the same. Well, I don’t know about
you, but I don’t want to be a fool, so I choose to think before I speak or act…
how about you?
Proverbs
14:29 – “He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding: but he that is
hasty of spirit exalteth folly”.
Here it is talking about being
quickly angered… it calls it as “exalting folly”. In other words, when we are
quick to anger, we hold up folly in the air and give it praise, give it laud
and honor. When we quickly lose our temper, we glorify foolishness. But, if we
allow ourselves to hear the matter out and understand the situation that gives
us time to calm our spirit and allows us to be slow to anger and to make a wise
judgment.
My
Testimony: I remember when my children were young about 8 and 10. They got into
trouble one time and I was so hasty to become angry that I didn’t bother to hear
the matter out. So, I didn’t understand the situation. However, I punished them
both. Later, when I allowed myself to calm down and go to talk with them, I
found out that because of what had happened, neither of them should have been
punished because they didn’t do anything wrong and what happened wasn’t their
fault! Talk about being guilty and foolish. :(
Join me
again as we
continue looking
into "Being Hasty"