Swearin'

Joe Carter is discussing why it bothers us so much. I swear sometimes. Not a lot, but when it reflects the nature of my heart at the moment. I am a firm believer in being honest with yourself and others. I would much rather swear than put up a false face. If I say darn, God knows what I meant and so do you. If anything refusing to tone it down encourages me to cut it out entirely.

No one over there has pointed out that not all "cussin'" is not the same. There is profanity which comes from taking the Lord's name in vain and other offenses. Then there is cursing, which involves invoking a curse on someone or something. This is what you are doing when you say "Dammit!" Then there is swearing, which is "I swear to God, I will never do that again." Then there is obscenity, which is the current four-letter craze of f-bombs and the like.

The Bible pretty explicitly forbids us from profanity, cursing, and swearing. The only swearing we may do is to make our Yes mean Yes and our No mean No. Obscenity is much more of a cultural thing and should probably fit in the Christian liberty, don't-cause-your-brother-to-stumble category. People have considered a lot of stupid things obscene. For instance in the eighteenth century, talking about a woman's ankles was considered obscenity. Well let me tell you, my Amybear has very shapely ankles. I've even seen them! Before marriage! I'm sure a lot of long dead dandies are now spinning in their graves. Even now women are wearing burkhas because of cultural customs surrounding obscenity.

But the overarching theme of the bible is that profanity and the like are really indicators of the state of the heart. Make your heart right and the swearing will stop. If you wish, fight against the act of speaking them. That might be a tool to help you discipline your heart and mind. But in the end realize it is the heart and what is before God that counts. Work from without and pray that the spirit will work from within.