I have gone to Church my entire life and had never heard a sermon on swearing. I'm not sure if the pastors were afraid to talk about the issue or if they just didn't see it as a problem. Coming from a hypocrite, swearing hampers our spiritual journey. Swearing is everywhere in our lives. We hear swearing in movies as well as from people that we work with. Everyone is guilty of swearing at one point in their life. If you can't admit that you have said a swear word before, I am sure that you have thought about saying one in your head. Thinking is just as bad in God's eyes.
Instead of looking up the definition of swearing in a dictionary, I thought that I would just come up with my definition for my fellow believers. Imagine that you are sitting next to Jesus and having a conversation. Any word that you wouldn't use in that conversation because of its crudeness is probably a swear word. This approach gives the term swearing a new meaning, doesn't it?
As a child, I don't remember swearing. The first time I heard the “F” word, I was in Kindergarten at the public school that I attended. Along with that kind of language, I was exposed to many other words that expanded my vocabulary so to say. Growing up and venturing out into the world only reinforced the bad behavior.
As Christians, we should set a higher standard for ourselves and others. Swearing doesn't look good on us and makes us more of this world. Being Christians, we are supposed to separate ourselves from this world because Jesus said that we are not of this world. I want to highlight a few verses on swearing that I found when reading the Bible.
Ephesians 4:29 NASB “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.”
Colossians 3:8 NASB “But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.”
James 5:12 NASB “But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but your yes is to be yes, and your no, no, so that you may not fall under judgment.”
Stop swearing in your life
I have made it a priority to stop swearing in my life. Fighting the temptation with loose lips is hard. We need to stop and think about our words and choose them carefully. Our words define our character, and our character leads people to Christ or turns them away. If we act like everyone else in the world, then why would non-believers be attracted to us? What we have is a gift. Our gift needs to be shared with others. When we swear, we cover up our light in the world.
If you have problems holding to your commitment, try starting a swear jar. Pick a Church where you want to donate your money. Every time you swear count up the letters in the word. Put one dollar in the jar for every letter of the word. At the end of the month bring it to the Church and tell them that you are turning over your swear jar. If this doesn't get your attention and get you to stop swearing, then I have one more suggestion. Pick a charity whom you disagree with and would never donate money to. Start your swear jar. At the end of the month donate your money to that charity. When you start using your money to support something that you disagree with, you will guilt yourself into keeping your words wholesome.
Personally, it wouldn't sit well with me to have to bring my swear jar to Church. It would be even worse to have to donate my hard earned money to a charity that I wouldn't want to support. I guess swear jars are a good way to remind us to keep our words pure. If our words are unwholesome, we shouldn't be using them in the first place.