What goes in, comes out...

Language.

Have you heard it recently?

Of course you have.


No, no, I don't mean language as in the English language, I mean it as in swearing. Cursing. Cussing. French. Or however you care to term it.

If you live in America, chances are pretty close to 100% that you have a better swear bank than John Newton (Oh yes, he was a pretty...colorful character before his salvation). If you're a Christian, you shouldn't be using it.
Before I go any further, however, let me apologize for the times that I haven't been so discerning. I've used a lot of 'substitute' swear words - which I'll discuss in a minute - and I'll be working for the next couple of weeks on cleaning up my blogs and vocabulary. I'm really sorry if I made you stumble.

So, just what is swearing? Dictionary.com says it's "to use profane oaths or language." All right...so what's language? Again, dictionary.com defines it as "as system of formalized symbols, signs, sounds, gestures, or the like used or conceived as a means of communicating thought, emotion, etc."

If you read that definition correctly, it said that language - words - are used to communicate thought and emotion. The implication? That no matter what you're saying, the words don't matter - the emotion or intent behind them is what you're really communicating. This is where 'substitute' swear words lose their validity. You may think it's not as bad as an f-bomb, but you mean the same thing.

The Bible says (for you Christians out there reading this) in Ephesians 5:3-4 "But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks." (The italicized and bold words are my added emphasis)
Uncleanness or filthiness apply to more than just 'trash talk' but since we're focusing on language here, we'll just use that particular meaning. Foolish talking is basically what we like to term 'putting your foot in your mouth', and 'jesting' in this context means joking inappropriately.

Obviously, the Bible's against cursing. Yet many Christians just can't bite their tongue - I'm no exception, let me tell you. Many people make the argument "Culture determines the meaning of a word - so if I use one that doesn't have a bad connotation, then it's all right".
Sorry people, that doesn't work either. Like we've discussed, words convey intent, and no matter what the cultural definition, if you're using any word at all with a malevolent purpose, it's dirty language.

This is not to say, however, that you're totally free to use swear words if you don't mean bad things by them (which...is almost impossible to do). Our culture has put bad connotations to certain things, and if we use them freely - even if we don't mean bad - it will stain their perception of us. Of course, that doesn't apply to words like "God" and "Hell" because those are legitimate Christian terms that have been twisted by people.

All that to say: don't curse, people. Always be encouraging others. And let's you and I clean up our vocabulary, shall we?