This started bugging me because.. well... I suddenly realized that a lot of people talk as they shouldn't.
Let's start with the saying I have heard most frequently in Church. "Oh my God." Can I just mention the verse, "Take not the name of the Lord thy God in vain." Okay I think that speaks for itself.
One of the reasons we should be careful about our speech, is to show that we are different from the world. I mean, anybody can lose control of themselves and use a swear word, right? Besides, the Bible says to bless those who hate you and persecute you and spitefully use you right? So we shouldn't be cursing. We shouldn't use vulgarities simply because they are disrespectful, and we are supposed to be respectful. This all came out of a random conversation with someone I met online! lol And the habit of someone I know slightly in real life.
But swearing is not the only issue we need to guard against. Being flippant in our speech is also a problem we don't even notice mostly. I know I have an issue with being flippant. Thankfully, I have never picked up the use of swear words, so I don't really have to worry about that, but being flippant is dangerous. It's easy to accidentally make light of something serious or your own feelings. Believe me, I have personal experience with this, and sad enough, it isn't previous personal experience, I do this just about every day, if not every day. I have accidentally hurt people by being waay too flippant. I've teased them without realizing it wasn't funny to them, and then I've had to try to make up. Not sure how well it worked....
So what my point is today, control your tongue. It's an often repeated exhortation in the Bible. The last few chapters of James deal with it a lot, and so does Proverbs. Paul mentions it.. not sure how often, but I know I've seen it. Let's control our tongues. Let's make our words count. Let's not offend people by not thinking first. I have had trouble with this since I was a little girl. I've always loved talking and communicating (wondered why I have this blog?????)
Hope this encouraged you!
Love,
Ruth
P.S. feel free to contact me at ruthlongworth62@gmail.com Yes, that is a different name! It's the original title for this google+ account because the only blog on here before had been one for sewing. I used my "pretend" name!
Blessings!
Yes, that is something that we all too often don't think about! I love that along with addressing swearing you also addressed being flippant in speech because that is something we don't think about enough. We as christians know we shouldn't curse but sometimes "taming the tongue" stops there and we don't think about all the other ways that we could be hurting those around us with our speech. Great thoughts Ruth!
ReplyDeleteThanks :) It was all thought up after a discussion with a young teenager online! haha I wanted to point out to him that since we're Christians, we need to be different, you know? He agreed so.. :) I'm happy he's changing
Deleteyes, we are called to stand out and not bled in! If we don't people won't be interested in our message (the gospel) because they don't see a difference in our lives.
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