April 20, 2003: No Cussing

While getting an oil change last week I struck up a conversation with a customer who told me (I think after she found out I was a minister) that she had given up swearing for Lent. I congratulated her. It is good not to cuss. I said something about hoping that she would be able to keep her momentum and not use bad language even after Lent was over.

Everyone benefits when people guard their tongues, because bad words pollute the air like exhaust from a diesel truck. Ephesians 4:29 says, "Let no unwholesome word proceed out of your mouth, but only what is helpful for building others up." Bad words tear people down. They degrade both speaker and hearer, but "a word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver" (Proverbs 25:11).

Some years ago a cousin of mine met a woman who sparked his romantic interest. But the second time he met her with her he heard her use foul language, and his heart cooled on the spot. He knew that words reveal character. As Jesus said, "Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks" (Matthew 12:34).

If there is garbage in your heart, it will come out in what you say. The best way to clean your mouth is to change your heart. But it is also true that the cleaning can work the other way. Guard your words, and you may well find that your heart responds by becoming a bit less trashy.