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Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water.  And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant – the Ten Commandments.  Exodus 34:28

As a college student, I majored in journalism with a minor in English. You could surmise I enjoy the written word so much I wanted to make a living at a job that required a lot of writing. I dreamed of one day writing a novel or even a regular column in a magazine. And although neither of those has happened (yet!) my eventual career path in public relations saw me using those skills in abundance.

The degradation of the written and spoken word these days drives people like me a bit batty. Not only do people rarely speak face to face but they also don’t write much. Text messaging has broken all the basic rules of the written word with shortcuts such as “lol” and “brb.” But I suppose it’s just another step in the evolution of God’s gift to us of language and the written word.

Write them (the Commands) on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates,” Deuteronomy 11:20

There are currently around 6,000 different languages spoken around the world. It’s been estimated that it would have taken at least 100,000 years for a single language to have diversified that much. That would take us back to the middle of the Stone Age according to BBC Science Focus magazine. But archeologists have found languages written in Mesopotamia dating back to the 8^th millennium BC. God has been at work helping us communicate with each other for a very long time!

When we think about Moses writing the Bible about 1500 years before Jesus’ birth, we should sit in awe at the beauty of it all. The poetry, symbolism, logic, history and storytelling have guided millions upon millions of believers. I’ve marveled with my Bible study ladies at the sophistication level of the apostle’s letters to the churches. Their ability to use the written word to educate, admonish and encourage people for thousands of years must be the envy of any author.

God has always provided what we, as humans, need to survive and thrive in this world. His gift of language and the written word has catapulted us ahead of all the biological life on Earth. I thank Him not only for the Bible but for all the poetry, novels, history books, songs, letters, phone calls, conversations and yes, text messages that have been made possible because of His love for us.

Out of the same mouth come 
praise and cursing. My brothers 
and sisters, this should not be. 
James 3:10

A prayer to avoid using coarse language

Holy Father, it has become so easy for me to use your name in un-holy ways. There was once a time that when angered or frustrated I would just say some silly old saying. But as I drew closer to the ways of the world my language followed. I want to be closer to you instead, LORD. I want to speak like your son, Jesus. I know that anger, impatience, laziness, and bitterness are all roots of my use of foul language. Help me, Holy Spirit, to cut out those roots so that out of my mouth comes praise, prayer, forgiveness and grace. I will use my mouth, with your guidance, for these rather than obscenity and coarseness. Amen

We all remember that moment well. I was driving the middle school carpool that morning. A car full of young, impressionable minds. Just before I got to a busy intersection a car swerved over from another lane in front of me, causing me to hit my brakes. And just as our basic driving skills become automated, my middle finger and mouth began its ugly automatic work. The car went silent. I was immediately convicted of my sin by five sets of enlarged eyes on me.

You’d think that instances like that would’ve got me to stop cursing in anger but it hasn’t. In fact, knowing about three weeks ago that eventually I’d be writing this post I started more aggressively working on this problem. And yet, just the other day I think I managed to use just about every curse word available when talking to my husband about politics.

Nor should there be obscenity, 
foolish talk or coarse joking, 
which are out of place, but 
rather thanksgiving.  
Ephesians 5:4

Have you ever watched a movie where it seemed the director purposely had every actor place a curse word in every sentence the actors spoke? I have. And I’ve finally had to stop watching. I understand when our anger rises up that we again allow our mouths to control our world. But the gratuitous use of cursing is not something I understand. Everything, to some people, is “f’ing (fill in the blank).” It’s become just another adjective. And yet, it isn’t.

According to one researcher, we swear on average from 0.3% to 0.7% of the time — a tiny but significant percentage of our overall speech. Given the fact that the average woman speaks about 25,000 words a day that adds up to around 1,750 swear words per day. That’s a lot of sinful speaking.

When I worked in our local high schools, I would see the prevalence of swearing amongst our teenagers. Each year it seemed to get worse and worse. When I would admonish a student they would say, “oops, it was just an accident.” However, we all know that well-practiced behaviors become simply rote acts.

We are told throughout the Bible and especially the New Testament that we, as believers in God and then Jesus, are to be set apart from this world.

Let us behave decently, 
as in the daytime, not 
in carousing and drunkenness, 
not in sexual immorality and 
debauchery, not in dissension 
and jealousy. Rather, clothe 
yourselves with the Lord 
Jesus Christ, and do not 
think about how to gratify 
the desires of the flesh. 
Romans 13:13-14

This verse makes it clear, whether in daytime, nighttime, with Christian friends or non, in our work environment, our home, or alone in our car, we are to clothe ourselves with Jesus. The worst I have ever read come out of Jesus’ mouth was to call the Pharisees “vipers.”

In the United States, during the 19th century, there was a craze to come up with “mild oaths” or pseudo-swearwords that replaced profane words with inoffensive ones. They tended to be silly and even poetic. “Jumpin’ Jehoshaphat,” “Holy, Moly,” and “gee willikers!” were just a few. It was a sign of our Christian influence in society. Sadly, we seem to have lost not only that influence but our desire to be that influence.

My BSGs’ (Bible Study Girls) favorite saying is “imperfect progress.” And that’s what I’m in the midst of – really, aren’t we all? And as I listen to our media, tv shows, music, and more accept that cursing God’s name as the “new normal” I pray for the Holy Spirit to help me be set apart. I want my “new normal” to be for the glory of God, not for the fulfillment of my flesh.

If you want this too, add the prayer to your daily prayer list and watch and see how God works in your life!

Tag: language

Written Word

Jumpin’ Jehoshaphat!