Ministry of Grace Church

With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God.

Truth to Learn

When we curse a fellow member of the human race it is offensive to the God who created us.

Behind the Words

The word “bless” is translated from the Greek word eulogeō. This is a compound word made up of eu, meaning “good” and logeō, meaning “word.” Hence, James is saying that we say good things about God. This word could be translated as “bless” or “praise.” This Greek word is expressed in the present tense, active voice, and indicative mood, meaning present continuous action (we are continually blessing God).

“Curse” is from the verb form of katara, which is made up of kata, meaning “against” and ara, which originally meant “a prayer” but came to mean “a curse which a deity was to perform against someone.” Thus, we see that this word refers to “requesting evil against someone else.” This verb is expressed in the present tense, middle voice, and indicative mood. The middle voice implies that we are cursing ourselves. That is, we are cursing members of mankind (of which we are a part).

The Greek word translated “similitude” is homoiōsis, from the verb homoioō, which means “to make like” or “to make in a similar form.” Hence, homoiōsis means “to have a similar form” or “to have a likeness.” Although it often does, it does not have to refer to physical appearance.

Meaning Explained

James reminds us that with our tongues we are continually offering praise and blessing to our Lord. And well we should, because he is worthy of all our praise! He is our Heavenly Father who has created us and has given us spiritual life through the blood of His Son. Unfortunately, we use the same tongue to continually curse our fellow human beings who have been made in the image of God. In Genesis 1:26, 27 we are told that God intentionally made us in His image.

This image, however, is not a reference to our physical form. We know this because Paul tells us in Philippians 2:6, 7 that Jesus already had the form of God (because He is God) and He took on the form and likeness of Man:

who, being in the form of God, … taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.

Mankind was a special creation of God, separate and distinct from all the animals. He gave man intellect, a moral nature, the power to communicate with others, and an emotional nature. These are characteristics of God which He only gave to humans. These are the ways in which we have been made in His likeness. Because we bear this likeness, this family resemblance, it is an act of deprecation against God Himself to curse man.

In the next verse we will see how James really feels about the tongue being used for both blessing and cursing.

Application

Try putting your ear in front of your own mouth (no, not literally, figuratively) and listen carefully to all you say. Are you continually blessing God, or offending Him?