Praise be to our Sovereign God and His Son Jesus Christ – and the Holy Spirit who indwells all who believe. The transcendent God exists in the 3 persons: God the Father – God the Son – and God the Holy Spirit. They are co-equal in their essence yet “subordinate” in Their functions.

As I stated in last week’s sermon, God has created human beings in His image. This means that all human beings have equal value and worth.(Genesis 1:26 a. – 27) Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness …. 27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

We saw that the image of God in human beings was not lost at the “fall” (when Adam and Eve Sinned). However, the image was severely damaged in terms of moral orientation but not in terms of intrinsic worth.(James 3:9-11) With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it, we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. 11 Can both fresh water and saltwater flow from the same spring? – Of course the answer is NO.

As God’s elect, chosen, adopted and redeemed people we have no right to mock a fellow human being created in God’s image – yet it happens all the time! “ …. Did you see the size of that guy’s ears?” “Did you see how ugly our new co-worker is?”

We have no right to make fun of a fellow human being! No one has a choice when it comes to physical appearance – i.e.our inherited physical features (not talking about the need to lose weight when necessary etc.) I’m working on that one.

So, as Christians, let us stop this behavior; let us banish it from our lives both in speech and in thought.The old saying – “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names can never hurt me”, is patently false.

(Proverbs 12:18) The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.Let’s begin putting aside this behavior today and rather look for ways to build others up in honesty – Pastor Dan