Wash your mouth....

We had a great G12 meeting on Saturday night, one that refreshed our sprit and brought us back on track. During which, we decided to cut out the use of 'swear words'.... a good and noble cause i would agree. However, we came to this difficulty of differentiating what is considered a swear word and what is not. And to be honest, most of us aren't actually big 'swear-ers' in the first place... i already have really bad connotations with most of the more vulgar and profane aspects of the language.

But then, there is the in between, semi benign words... like 'oh my goodness', 'gosh?', 'crap', 'oh man', 'shoot'... those kinda stuff... n i suppose at first glance... u might say... what? is that even swearing? n i would agree.... it does not sound like swearing... although we argued that they acts as the substitute for bad words and that is whats important.... again reasonable, to a certain extent.... although it just doesn't sit too well with me. From a personal perspective, a lot of these words don't quite impinge on my conscience... hence the ease of saying them... n the other being the context as sometimes u may just use like "oh my goodness thats huge".... or like "shoot, i dropped my pencil!" Since if they are 'replacements' shouldn't they be used in a negative way since most of the original words had bad intentions anyway?

A quick search brings up the definition of profanity:
1. treating with abuse, irreverance, contempt ie desecrate
2. debasing by a wrong, unworthy, vulgar use

other related words to my idea of bad language - offensive, crude, immorality

A verse i found useful was :

"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen."
- Ephesians 4:29

"But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.'"
- Matthew 13:35

These suggest, that we should watch our mouths. Foul language reflects the condition of our heart. Bad language can dishonour God and other people. A conversation riddled with cursing, crude expressions, profanity would ruin any clean and noble ideas. Judgemental statements can hurt peoples' feelings and break down their self esteem. An article from the Daily Bread (dec 7 2002), likens it to noise pollution, which can crowd out God's voice in our life. It creates a corrupt and unholy environment which is not conducive to clean and Godly living. And hence, we should not use bad language.

I may go on and on... without ever deciding the issue.... however, i think to me... it is more of an issue of intention then an issue of words. Unwholesome words reflect an unclean mind. To stay away from words that can create an ungodly environment and mindset. Whatever does not help me with my walk to God, which keeps me from hearing his voice and doing his will... that is what we should stay away from. For some people perhaps this may mean different things, the focus though is always on God. Our aim, to have a conversation "full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer to everyone." Colossians 4:6 That being my debate, the trueness of my claims... perhaps only God can answer. Thus, Lord i pray grant me a conscience, to guide me along Your will.

"Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD;
keep watch over the door of my lips."
- Psalm 141:3

"The Lord says:
"These people come near to me with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me
is made up only of rules taught by men. "
- Isaiah 29:13