9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. 11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12 My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. (James 3:9–12.)
We have heard the word “bless” most of our lives. We bless God; God blesses us; we bless one another…
But what does it mean? Is it a ritual, or something more concrete and practical?
In James 3 above, there are a few things that we see.
1. Blessing is something done with the tongue, and it is the opposite of cursing. It is not fitting for the tongue to do both.
2. Blessing is something that brothers and sisters are accustomed to speak concerning God.
3. When one is truly blessing God, it would be consistent for them to also bless human beings made in God’s image. To bless God and to curse men is to live a contradiction.
So let’s put it together. First, what does it mean to bless God?
Read this entire Psalm – but I will copy just the first few verses:
1 Bless the LORD, O my soul;
And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
2 Bless the LORD, O my soul,
And forget not all His benefits:
3 Who forgives all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases,
4 Who redeems your life from destruction,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. Ps 103:1–5.
To bless the Lord is to use one’s tongue to speak of all of the goodness of the Lord. His attributes, his beauty, the beauty of his works and goodness and wisdom of his creation.
This is why it is a contradiction to bless the Lord and to curse something in his creation.
If you have been born again by the Spirit of God, you are becoming more and more like Christ. And James is calling us, his children, to think about what that means about our tongues.
To make is simple, bless your spouse, your children, your family, your neighbors, your co-workers, with your tongue, rather than curse them.
And this is difficult, because our natural speech is to curse with our tongues, as James says.
We tell people what is wrong with them. We tell them everything they have done wrong. We pour shame and contempt. We react with anger. We return curses for curses and a cycle of hatred builds.
But Christ has broken the curse of sin, so now we are to use our new breath and new life to use our words the way that God in Christ used words. He blesses, his words bring life. He speaks the truth in love.
So what does it mean to bless someone.
Speak of what you appreciate about them.
Speak about what you find beautiful and good in them.
Speak about the image of God that lies within and how easy they are to love.
Speak about ways to make burdens lighter.
Be open and accepting and welcoming with your words. Use words to make someone bigger.
Speak in such a way that the chest lifts up, that the face smiles, that they stand a little taller.
In other words, do your words make your neighbor’s burdens easier, or heavier?
Do your words tear down, or build up?
To curse is to speak words of death. To tear down, to deflate, to heap burdens.
To curse is to seek to elevate yourself by tearing another down. To make them feel stupid and useless and unheard.
To curse makes your neighbor lower her eyes, slow their step a little, take the wind out of the sails.
“Let not corrupt communication come from your mouths…”
That rotten, crushing, soul-destroying word that causes a spiritual stench to come out of the mouth – where the tongue is an instrument of death.
It is cursing that is so prevalent on Social media. God hates it.
If we are God’s people, we ought to use our tongues to speak words of peace and joy and beauty to everyone we come into contact with.
My Only Comfort 