Let these words be a light in the depths.

In James 3:9-10 it says “(9)With the tongue we praise our LORD and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. (10) Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.”

In James 3:9-10 it says “(9)With the tongue we praise our LORD and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. (10) Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.”

Talking about the tongue, we as humans use it to speak. We use it to communicate amongst ourselves and it’s even used for eating and digestion (I think). But the most important reason that God gave us a tongue is to worship Him. With it we can sing and we can pray. With it we can shout and speak in tongues. With it, we say things like “Lord, I love you,” or even speak the name of Jesus. Yet, with this tongue that we praise Him, we dare curse from it? We dare speak the words that he so despises and use them for WHAT? What more than insults and slander do we use curse words for. Some curse words aren’t even in the dictionary. They are not recognized in society as appropriate, yet we spit them out as if they were any other word. We use them like Californians use the word “like”. A sentence with 8 words should not have 4 curse words in them, they shouldn’t have ANY.

            Curse words never mean pleasant things. The F word, it CAN mean the act of intercourse between married people, but do you really think that a married couple will say “I’m going to f-you up tonight”? Do you HONESTLY think that that word means anything more than a vulgar act of passion rather than love? Also the S word. It literally means poop. The waste of your body. People use it when they make mistakes, and damn themselves or others. The b-word, it might mean female dog, but unless you’re trying to be clever and cover up for it, if you ever hear it, it will be damning another human. These words were created and are shunned by the public as indecent, yet we use them every single day as if they are nothing.

            Have you ever noticed how easy it is to hold your tongue in church, or at home, but when you’re with ‘those’ friends, you know the ones who use curse words so much it’s appalling, well the second your tongue utters a curse word amongst them, you are NO better. You think just saying it less or holding back a lot makes you any better, well it doesn’t. God doesn’t look at sins in degrees or levels, every sin is the same, and every curse is the same as well. Don’t pride yourself in self-restraint unless you are ABSOLUTELY 100% clean to it, and lets be honest. I don’t think there’s anyone in this world who is. I really don’t.

            There are well over 150,000 words in the English dictionary and the average teenager knows about 20,000 to 30,000 words. Out of the 7 or so curse words that we know there are 29,993 words that we could be using otherwise.

            It says “with the tongue we praise the LORD, our Father.” You know I love that phrase “how much more”. It says it countless times in the Bible and it really speaks the truth. God created this Earth and everything in it, so if you feel or see or experience something on this Earth, HOW MUCH MORE can God do? When you’re talking to your Father and you accidentally slip a curse word, families are different, but as a Korean, I know my dad will throw a chair at me for it, no matter how much they curse or slander or even gossip, what you don’t know is that their heart breaks when they see their children doing it. Well, how much more does God’s heart break? How much more will he be appalled or even saddened by your cursing? If that one word can hurt your earthly father, how much more will it hurt God? Your heavenly father.

            Later in the passage it says “and with it (the tongue) we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness.” Like I said earlier, most cuss words are directed towards vulgar things. They are used as insults and slander towards, most of the time, man. Guys, man was created in God’s image. God sculpted man in His own likeness. Whenever you curse a fellow human, aren’t you cursing God? Aren’t you calling God a B word or an A word? AREN’T YOU, WITH YOUR TONGUE, CALLING GOD WASTE OR CALLING HIM WORTHLESS WITH THE EXACT SAME TONGUE THAT YOU SAID I LOVE YOU TO HIM? It may seem harsh or exaggerated, but if you who see the truth agree, then you must stop. The bible says that God hates those who are lukewarm, meaning that they have one foot in the world and one foot in God. Well, you cant have half of your tongue worshiping God, and half of it cursing Him. It simply cannot be. The next time you curse, you are saying “God, I reject you. I curse you, and I will control the things in my life to my pleasing. Not yours.” Is God worth so little to you, that you will give Him up for a word? Repent, and ask God for the Power to hold your tongue, for the power of patience when you want to yell and curse someone out, for the power to think clean thoughts and the power to keep your tongue clean.

            When you brush your teeth, you should always brush your tongue as well. There’s this thing called plaque in your mouth and it smells really nasty. It builds up all over your mouth, especially when you sleep. On your teeth and on your tongue, well even if you clean the plaque from your teeth, what about your tongue. They say the most bad breath comes from a dirty tongue. Always clean your tongue, just like your brush your teeth. Every day ask God for a clean tongue that you may only speak of words that praise God, not curse Him. If you clean your tongue every day, no dirty words will come from it.

            Finally, just don’t curse God and praise Him from the same tongue. When you are at Mexico or retreat, or even church, you wouldn’t say something like “f yeah, God is awesome.” It’s just not right. Just no. Your tongue is such an important thing that God has given you. Take care of it that you may sing and praise and worship Him with it. We must be clean when we come to the Lord. When you look to Him and your clothes are white and your face is clean, don’t open your mouth to say something and have it be dirty and smelly, make it clean too. Make everything you have and are clean before the Lord, that He may smile upon you and have pride in you.