3. Praise: the Language of Life
The longest passage about speech in the whole Bible occurs in the book of James (James 3:2–12). It is a well-known section that we have already quoted from earlier in this book, but there is something interesting about what the apostle says in this passage that few people notice or think about.
Almost all of what James tells us in this section of Scripture has to do with the importance of controlling our tongues because of the potential evils of speech. This strong warning is a general one, however – it can apply to all aspects of speech. But James gives only one specific example in all that he tells us regarding speech rightly and wrongly used. That example is of praise and its opposite, cursing:
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. (James 3:9–10) While many English Bible versions translate verse 10 as "out of the same mouth come blessing and cursing" (ESV, etc.), the Greek word rendered "blessing" is eulogia (from which we get our word "eulogy") and in this instance is well translated as praise – as in the NIV and some other recent Bible versions. James' Surprising Example It is interesting that of all the examples James could have given of the use and misuse of the power of speech, he did not choose truth and lies, humility and pride, or any of the other paired qualities of speech we look at in this book; but he chose praise and cursing. Clearly, James felt that these two opposite attributes were of great significance and perfectly illustrated his point.
Many people would presume that the opposite of giving praise is simply not giving praise, but James saw beneath this superficial view. He also alerts us to the fact that if we do not exercise an attitude of praise, humans frequently go to the other extreme and their speech is soon marred by curses. But what exactly did James have in mind when he spoke about "cursing"?
Today, most people think of cursing as only referring to the use of profanity or "bad language," but the Greek word katara that James uses has the primary meaning of wishing evil or ruin on something or someone. Sadly, this can be a natural human reaction when things do not go right. People freely disparage or curse not only other people, but even inanimate objects that do not work properly or that get in the person's way.
Many people curse out of frustration with difficult situations. We see a sad example of this, of course, in the story of Peter's denials at the time of Christ's arrest: "those standing nearby came up to Peter. 'Surely you are one of them,' they said … At that he began to curse and to swear to them, 'I do not know the man!'" (Matthew 26:73–74 BSB). Even the well-intentioned Peter fell to cursing as well as denial in these circumstances.
The problem is especially common when people are verbally attacked or insulted and do not resist the natural temptation to retaliate. That is why Jesus taught "bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you" (Luke 6:28), and why we are told that he himself, "when he was insulted, he did not insult in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten but entrusted himself to the one who judges justly" (1 Peter 2:23 CSB). It is why the apostle Paul also tells us "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse" (Romans 12:14 CSB).
Of course, cursing in the wider sense also includes the use of profane, obscene, or vulgar language. Such language has become almost universally common today, to the point that people hardly notice it anymore, but the Christian should remember that the Bible completely forbids all such speech. The apostle Paul tells us, for example, "No foul language should come from your mouth" (Ephesians 4:29 CSB) and "Obscene and foolish talking or crude joking are not suitable, but rather giving thanks" (Ephesians 5:4 CSB). Note that Paul contrasts such use of language with thanksgiving which, as we will see, is a major element of praise.
Although it is not exactly cursing, using expressions such as "Oh my God!" or its substituted initials "OMG!" also clearly falls into the category of speech that is the opposite of praising God. Sadly, some Christians never think about that – which is ironic considering that perhaps the most well-known section of the whole Old Testament, the Ten Commandments, and the most well-known section of the New Testament, the Lord's Prayer, both show that the name of God should not be used lightly (Exodus 20:7) and should be "hallowed" or kept sacred (Matthew 6:9).
In all these ways, society around us continually uses cursetainted speech that is the opposite of praise. We should not see these sins as worse than our own, of course, but the Bible is certainly clear that as Christians we should avoid use of such language and that our speech is to be very different.
Salty Speech The Christian approach to speech is not only to avoid what is bad, but also to utilize and be identified by what is good. It is just as important to realize the kind of speech behavior God wants to see in our lives as to recognize speech patterns that he condemns. So, what kind of speech does God's word urge us to develop?
The answer is speech that is God-centered. This does not mean that our speech should always be "religious" or full of biblical sounding terms. Paul gives us the overall principle when he wrote "Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt" (Colossians 4:6). In modern times the expression "salty speech" meant the kind of speech used by sailors (fairly or unfairly equated with bad language), and today "salty" has become a slang term used of someone who snaps back when they feel that they have been wronged; but Paul meant something entirely different from these things, of course!
To be "seasoned with salt," in the sense that Paul used the expression, our speech does not need to be entirely religious any more than our food should be entirely salt; but an attitude of Godcenteredness should be present in our words as much as possible – whatever we say. Salt was a biblical symbol of purity (2 Kings 2:18– 22; etc.) and for our speech to be seasoned with salt means that it is pure throughout.
Salt has also been used since ancient times as a flavor enhancer (Job 6:6; Matthew 5:13; etc.) and is even added to sweet things to intensify their sweetness. In the same way, our words – if well chosen – can begin to approximate those of Jesus in his earthly life. As we saw in the Introduction, Luke tells us that "All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips" (Luke 4:22), and one of the reasons Jesus' speech made this impression was that it was never tainted by words that were not God-centered. His words were "salted" to such a perfect extent that it was noticeable to all those who heard him.
This brings us back to the point of this chapter – to what James said about our speech being full of praise rather than being marred by curses of any kind. But what exactly did James have in mind in talking about praise in this context?
The Nature of Praise When James tells us "Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing" (James 3:10), the word he used for praise, eulogia – as we have already seen – means good speech in the broader sense, but it can also mean praise in particular. We can praise anything that seems good, beautiful, or right, and in relation to God praise is the joyful expression of what he is and what he has done, as well as what he plans to do. Praise is thus closely intertwined with thanksgiving as we express appreciation for these things.
The Bible clearly shows this connection between praise and thanksgiving. For example, in the Old Testament we read "Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful to him, and bless his name" (Psalm 100:4 NKJV). In the same way, we read in the New Testament, "Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to his name" (Hebrews 13:15 ESV). Both the Hebrew and Greek words used in these verses for "praise" convey the idea of declaring God's greatness, nature and glory to others in an appreciative manner. Simply put, the biblical concept of praise means to express appreciation to God for his nature and blessings, either privately or to others.
A wonderful example of this can be found in the "song" Mary proclaims while carrying Jesus in her womb (Luke 1:46–55). In this song of praise Mary tells of how great God is and how greatly he has blessed not only her, but also the people of all nations.
But praise should always be a hallmark of our speech, whatever conditions we may face. In Acts 16:25, for example, we read of Paul and Silas praising God while imprisoned. Such speech cannot fail to be noticed by others and is a vibrant form of witness that we too can exhibit whenever we react with an attitude of positive praiseoriented speech rather than grumbling or even cursing when we have problems or things do not go well for us.
In good times or bad, an attitude of thankfulness and praise can and should be reflected in our speech continually (Psalm 104:33; 146:2). In fact, the book of Revelation tells us that at the end of this age, the people of God will rejoice in eternal praise, and that "there will no longer be any curse" (Revelation 22:3 CSB). Curses will finally and fully be replaced by praise!