James 1:21

Preparing Hearts To Receive God's Word

Instead of allowing anger to boil over uncontrolled from our hearts, we must prepare our hearts to receive God's word. We must put aside the clothing stained with the stinking dirt of sin, or filthiness. We also need to sweep clean the heart that has been bubbling over with evil, or the overflow of wickedness (James 1:21).

Having gotten rid of the bad, we need to fill up the heart with good (Compare Matthew 12:43-45). So, James says to receive the "implanted word." The idea here is of a seed that has taken root and begun to grow. Remember that the seed is God's word and grows best in the soil of a receptive heart (Luke 8:11-15). For it to really take root, the word of God must be received in meekness, with none of the anger in 19-20 but with a submissive spirit ready to hear of needed changes and make them. We want to receive it because it is able to save our souls (Romans 1:16; 2 Timothy 3:15).