Philip Dampier's Blog

Chapter 3, Verse 9 “With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.”

There is a lot said in the scriptures about blessing God. It is how many Jews began the day. Maybe how some of you begin your day. James sees blessing God as a most powerful and noblest use of the tongue. There is a lot said in the scriptures about cursing man. Swearing at someone in Bible times was the equivalent of hoping they would be abandoned by God. Cursing one made in the image of God is not proper for the Christian. Jesus said, “Bless those who curse you…” Luke 6:28

As we find in the next verse, James is not condoning this behavior. While he embraces blessing God and others he is dead set against the cursing. Perhaps he is telling us that when we curse those made in God’s image we are also insulting God.

Task for Today: Make it a habit to bless God every day and in so doing you will find little opportunity to curse humans who are in the image of God. It will make you feel better as well.