“With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.” – James 3:9-10
I love these verses, yet feel cut to the core.
How can we praise God with the same mouth that tears down our fellow man?
We sing songs to God and we angrily mouth off the person who cuts us off on the freeway. We proclaim God’s goodness, while criticizing those who aren’t like us. We share the love of Jesus with the same mouths that just spewed off hurtful remarks to our fellow believer for simply being, well, themselves.
And then to take a bit further, James reminds us that our cursing isn’t just toward another person. They’re toward people who, ultimately, are created in the likeness of God. If it’s true that we serve God by serving people, then the same is true when we verbally tear someone down. We’re actually ripping God apart when we verbally abuse someone.
Thoughts?
Let’s talk.
derrickengoy.us 
OH, seriousssssssssssssssssssslyyyyy! Your blog post served as a holy smackdown on my tongue today! It’s funny, I have an hour long commute to work in which I drive in silence. I use that time to talk to God and be with him. HOWEVER, during that supposedly intimate and holy communication with God I am cursing and cussing at the drivers around me. And I AM ALWAYS REMINDED OF THAT VERSE YOU JUST WROTE UP THERE! And then I apologize and ask for forgiveness but not 5 minutes later I am railing again. *sigh* I am hopeless. Oh, and then let’s not even talk about my tongue at work. I have praise music blasting in my ears and yet, it sometimes doesn’t stop me from cursing at people in my workplace. Ugh.
N – Don’t you just love how God has a way of confirming thing through other people?