No shuffle

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. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?
- James 3:9-11

How do you think James would feel about your iPod on shuffle? Out of the same device can come both fresh music and salty tunes. And the same is true for our mouths.

As we close out this week, let’s pay careful attention to James’ invitation to us to live a consistent life.

James catches us using our toothbrush to scrub the toilets. He sees us using our garden spade to serve our wedding cake. He notices that we use the same mouth to praise and to curse. And his response is: “this should not be.”

We are freshwater people. We are people who have been blessed and who long for God’s blessing to extend to the whole world. We have no business pouring salt water into the world. We are people who praise our Lord and Father. We have no business cursing human beings.

Take some time today to take an inventory.

Who have you cursed? Who are you tempted to curse?

Replace those words of cursing with words of blessing.
Ask God to show kindness and mercy to the person you’ve cursed.
Ask God to forgive you for cursing a person made in his likeness.
Ask God to help you to be a person who blesses instead of curses.

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