Kissin' Mama and Praisin' Jesus

Living in a military community often exposes me to a variety of *ahem* colorful language.  Soldiers often forget present company in conversations with other soldiers.  Many wives have adopted an easy way to lovingly remind soldiers to think before they speak.  "Do you kiss your mama with that mouth?" is a phrase with which we are all familiar.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not picking on soldiers (or sailors for that matter), or trying to claim I'm perfect.  Not at all.  But in my Bible study time recently I stumbled across a Biblical version of "Do you kiss your mama with that mouth?" that caught my attention.
I've been studying the book of James lately.  Tearing it apart, really, verse by verse.  I've read it before, several times, but this time a specific set of verses stuck out at me.  And hit me like a ton of bricks.  Hard.  "With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness.  Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing.  My brothers, this should not be." -Jame 3:9-10 
And how often do we do it?  Just like James described in scripture almost 2000 years ago, we make the same mistake many people in the early church made.  Almost in the same breath we lift up the name of our Lord and tear down our neighbor. Our out-of-control tongue is to blame.  And it gets worse!  James tells us we can't control it.  It could be described like spiritual Turrets Syndrome.  So how do we stop it?  Simple and yet oh so very difficult. We give it over to Christ.  "I can do all things (even control my tongue) through Christ who strengthens me." -Philippians 4:13.  As hard as it seems, we can do it.  We can choose to praise Him without cursing our fellow man.  It's a tough job, but His mercies are new every day and no matter how badly we did yesterday, He'll be there with mercy for us today.  There are many ways He provides His mercy to allow us to do the impossible.  One way is through friends who hold us accountable.  So the next time you see your Christian sister (or me!) tearing someone down, ask her this question:  "Do you praise your Jesus with that mouth?"