What is the context?
James names the contradiction plainly: the same tongue blesses the Lord and Father, then curses people made in God’s likeness. The way we speak about another person cannot be separated from the God whose image that person bears.
A spring and fruit trees make the contradiction visible. A spring does not naturally produce both fresh and salt water, and a tree does not grow the fruit of another kind. James calls the readers to a consistency their mixed speech lacks.
The examples do not simply report what people do. The words this should not be call for change. Praising God cannot make contemptuous speech toward people harmless.
How is this passage commonly understood?
Calvin and Wesley both connect the wrong of cursing people with the dignity they have from their Creator. They understand the natural images as a rebuke to inconsistent speech, rather than a reason to be content with it.
Where does this fit in God's plan?
The likeness language reaches back to Genesis 1:26–28, where humanity receives its place from God. Colossians 3:8–14 carries that theme into renewal in Christ: putting away slander and lies belongs beside being renewed in the Creator’s image and putting on compassion and love. Honoring the Creator thus reaches into the words used about His creatures.
What is our position?
We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.