“For he who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit.” (1 Peter 3:10)
When I was a child, my dad hired a housekeeper who would pay me to cuss her out. Can you believe it? It just tickled her to death to hear a child “cuss like a sailor”.
I continued to cuss like a sailor all the way to adulthood. The truth is it became such a natural part of my lifestyle that I actually had to think about when not to use profanity.
But that all changed when I met Jesus. In fact, one of the most visible signs of the change in me was that I didn’t try to stop using profanity. It just supernaturally happened from one moment to the next.
God not only cleansed my tongue, he also cleansed my heart. Today, I can’t stand to hear anyone use profanity, including me. That’s right, I said me. I’m not going to lie to you. I’ve been known to let a word slip out when I get angry and forget the One to whom I belong. I’m not perfect. But when I hear it, I get a check from my Spirit immediately.
That check from the Spirit is important to me because it’s a continuing reminder of God’s presence in my life. The Apostle Paul tells us at 1 Corinthians 3:16 that when we become Christians, God’s Spirit lives in us so that we can have guidance in all that we do. But he later warns us at Ephesians 4:30 that we should never “grieve” that Spirit by using offensive language. In other words, that caution light that goes off in me whenever I hear or use profanity is a supernatural experience. God is speaking to me and He isn’t pleased with what He just heard. I think that’s a signal that every Christian should sense when he or she is within earshot of profanity.
In spite of all my shortcomings, I can’t remember using the Lord’s name in vain since I came to know Jesus, but I do remember how God feels about it. “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.” (Exodus 20:7)
When you think about it, that verse makes an awful lot of sense. If we are brought in this world to show God’s glory in our lives, then we have no right to associate Him with the failures that show up.
Billy Graham tells a story about traveling on a plane next to a salesman. Mr. Graham asked him, “Are you paid anything for all the swearing you do?”
“No,” was the startled reply. “I do it for nothing.”
“Nothing,” cried out Graham. “You work cheap! You throw aside your character as a gentleman, inflict pain on your friends, break the Lord’s commandments, and endanger your own soul–all for nothing!
Graham’s point is the price of profanity is never cheap. I agree. Neither was Jesus death on the Cross.
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