Why is profanity such a big deal?

Philippians 4:8-9Now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.

James 3:2-12If we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way. We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth. And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds are strong. In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches. But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. And the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself. People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison. Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right! Does a spring of water bubble out with both fresh water and bitter water? Does a fig tree produce olives, or a grapevine produce figs? No, and you can’t draw fresh water from a salty spring.

What comes out of our mouth shows what is in our heart. Our words show what kind of person we really are. Criticism, gossip, flattery, lying, and profanity are not only “word problems,” but “heart problems” as well. Being more careful with our words isn’t enough. We must first have a change of heart, and then good, kind, and healing words will flow out.

Exodus 20:7“You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God. The Lord will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name.”

To use the name of God frivolously is to violate God’s standard for holiness and shows a lack of respect and reverence for him. This is important enough that God made it one of the Ten Commandments. Even today, when Jewish people read their Bible aloud, they use a title for God rather than God’s name when it appears in the text, lest it appear they are treating God’s name as trivial.

Exodus 21:17“Anyone who dishonors father or mother must be put to death.”

The Bible says that to curse your parents is as serious an offense as doing them physical harm. The death penalty attached to the offense demonstrates how serious such actions are.

Ephesians 5:4Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes—these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God.

What kind of an impact could you have on others if you replaced all of your negative or unhealthy words with words of kindness, encouragement, and gratitude? Foul language has no place in a believer’s vocabulary. The three areas of speech Paul mentions—stories that highlight blatant sinful behavior, meaningless conversations, and off color or gross humor—make up much of what we call entertainment in today’s world. Such speech expresses a noticeable lack of gratitude to God.

Ephesians 4:29Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.

James 1:26If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless.

Exercising self-control over our words includes being appropriate both in what we avoid saying and what we actually do say. Are you even aware of what kind of speech comes out of your mouth on the average day? Ask a friend to make a list of your most frequent positive and negative words. If you really want to stop your bad verbal habits, ask yourself before you speak, “Is it true? Is it kind? Is it helpful?” If you can answer yes to these questions, you will have an amazing impact on others through your words.