Tag: Cursing

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We are what we speak.

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Fine speech is not becoming to a fool; still less is false speech to a prince. Proverbs‬ ‭17‬:‭7‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Proverbs is so good at comparing and contrasting concepts and character. ESV (English Standard Version) translation captures the punny play on words here, with the words “fine” and “false.” In this little proverb, there is a lot of truth packed into the words and rhythm of speaking it out loud. Just say the words, fine, fool and false out loud.

Words that describe us as humans, are a glimpse of our character, and become pretty sticky and consistent over time. In other words, people get to know us by our words. And, either the words we use match our behaviors, or they don’t – both outcomes are very telling!

The wisdom writers point out that you should not hear trash-talk coming from true royalty, or a leader for example. They use the comparison between a fool (nabel: wicked, stupidly evil – used 18 times in the Old Testament, only 3 of those in Proverbs), and a Prince. They juxtapose “nabel” with “nadib.” Nadib is used for nobility, a prince, a leader. The word Prince means one who generously incites to good. The noble lips drip with “yether,” abundant excellence, the evil fool with “sheqer,” lies and deception.

Does our character define our vocabulary or do our words define our character?

Rant warning! Is it just me or has there been a massive increase in public potty mouth? It’s not just F-bombs either. Folks used to apologize for potty-mouth words! My grandmother was a cusser. She would would go off with a Sailor’s string of profanity, but often end with “excuse my french.” I didn’t think those words sounded French, nor did I know if the French were constantly using swear words in their country. We have lost our “ability of civility” to control our potty mouths! It’s just not cute to hear a five year old drop F, S, or B words in casual kindergarten conversation! The only reason swearing isn’t on “public” television or “OTA” (over the air), is because the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) fortunately, still makes it illegal. Cable, satellite and streaming are not held to any standards even though the content is sent directly to homes with children watching! BTW, it’s ridiculous that somehow “Christian” freedom has been cited for believers to sound like trashy potty-mouths! End of rant.

Proverb’s wisdom still speaks today! The trust in leaders has been completely eroded away in our culture! We know that when a politician, media spokesperson or anyone defending themselves in the spotlight opens their mouth they are LYING. Do we want good character? Then we should should quit sounding like fools!

Prayer

Dad,
Oh my goodness, we’ve got ourselves is a mess! It’s a mess that only you can resolve. Help us O’ God. We ask for your forgiveness, your mercy. As we yield to you, renew and restore our sense of right vs wrong, truth vs lies, good words vs evil ones. We cry out to you. Lord, hear our prayer.

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Things Christians don’t obey.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

““You have heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.’ But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell. “So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭5‬:‭21‬-‭24‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Jesus preached his signature sermon and brought up a whole slew of hearsay of things his audience had heard through the grapevine. Jesus said, “our ancestors were told.” Yep, God told their ancestors (ours by adoption) that #6 on the list of God no-no’s was MURDER. Thou shalt not.

Then Jesus redefines what murder may look like from the hidden, recesses of our heart. Oooo, it looks a lot like anger and hatred! It looks like a caldron of hot, stinky thoughts ruminating around in our head. Maybe under our breath or whispered to a friend we might say, they are an Idiot.

I know it’s a word that’s been cancelled as a demeaning, derogatory term, but believe me Jesus word, rhaka, is so much worse. The word “fool” used here means an empty-headed, numbskull, good for nothing, who acts presumptuously and thoughtlessly. It’s more than the Proverbs word, “keciyl,” which is a slow, silly, careless fool. It’s more like “pethiy,” a person incapable of learning, thus continuing to fail themselves and others. Jesus says that kind of name calling can get you hauled into the court of the Sanhedrim (Hebrew elder board). But actually cursing someone out of anger can cause you to start wearing the cologne of hell, smelling like putrid smoke!

Jesus pulls back the dark curtain of our thoughts, intentions and attitudes to reveal the nasty stuff inside us when our anger is not righteous, but petty and self serving. Then Jesus makes a stunning conclusion. When our anger rages to the point of unbridled hatred towards someone, we’ve murdered them in our heart. Don’t tell me you haven’t wished someone dead! Jesus told them, and us, when that happens you’ve got to take drastic measures to be reconciled to the person your aiming your heart-hatred at.

It’s so important, so critical, Jesus says, that you have to LEAVE your gift, your praise, your sacrifice, your sweet one on one with God to take care of business! Then with a clear, non-murderous heart we can come back to God and give our gift.

Do we do this? No. Do we practice this? No. Do we believe this to be true? No. We don’t disrupt our time with God to make things right between each other. Why? Because it’s hard. It’s painful. It’s humiliating. To reconcile is an admittance of our guilt, our humanness. Our justifications sound like toddlers fighting on the playground, “well he started it!” Can you even imagine all our murderous thoughts and attitudes of all the people who have offended us, wronged us or embarrassed us? And we bring all that trash before a holy God while we pull out our little gift of praise or sacrifice?

Jesus said, LEAVE God’s presence and make things right with our fellow humans that have hurt us! And don’t even think about whining, complaining or tattling on someone before God. He won’t listen. Go make it right. Do the hard job as Jesus commanded. Quit messing around with years of stacked and stuffed anger, frustration and death threats towards others. Make amends.

“But there are so many,” you say. “What should I do then?” Ask the Holy Spirit to bring up the worst and most egregious, the one that darkens your soul and consumes a massive amount of your time just thinking about how MUCH you hate that person. This is such a powerful, yet IGNORED practice. I am convicted just reading this and have to deal with one of those reconciliations today!

Prayer

Dad,
Help me be brave and obey your word! Help me to humble myself and make things right with the person you have brought to mind as I write this. Forgive me for the delay. Amen.

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And lightning didn’t strike.

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“Think again, you fools! When will you finally catch on? Is he deaf—the one who made your ears? Is he blind—the one who formed your eyes? He punishes the nations—won’t he also punish you? He knows everything—doesn’t he also know what you are doing? The Lord knows people’s thoughts; he knows they are worthless!” Psalms‬ ‭94:8-11‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The Psalmist reminds me of something I think we forget about.

Just because God doesn’t immediately smite us for horrendous behavior does not mean we got or will get away with it!

God’s spokespersons (prophets) wrote about this all the time. Prior to this verse, he writes, “They kill widows and foreigners and murder orphans. “The Lord isn’t looking,” they say, “and besides, the God of Israel doesn’t care.” It’s odd that every FIRST act of violence, betrayal, or dishonesty has a moment of expectation that surely someone is watching and there will be swift and severe consequences for our actions. Nope. Rarely does that happen. And because we think we get away with it, the next dastardly deed is easier to do.

When I was in middle school I was walking home and chose the route that went through our school sports field. It was huge. As I walked I decided to see what would happened when I spoke a curse word out loud. My family was big time cussers and creatively used crass words in combinations that seemed to amplify their coarse effect on my ears. I had never cursed up to that point. Oh, most of my friends cursed like sailor siblings, but I didn’t. So out in the field I let it rip, yelling the word SH*T to the sky. I was not a follower of Jesus, but as you could tell, I did believe in God. What kept me from cussing all this time? One, my parents didn’t lead a great example in good behavior – smokers, drinkers, gamblers, and cursers. I didn’t really want to be like them. But two, I thought God could see and hear everything I did and would swiftly punish me for stepping out of line. Where’d I get that idea? I don’t know. Maybe a few Sunday School stories put that thought in my head. As I yelled out in the open, empty field, expecting a thunderclap and possibly lightning of God disapproving of my language, I just waited in silence. What? No lightning, no response from heaven? Nothing. In my little grand example of an experiment, I did think, “He’s not listening or does not care.” I was disappointed. I didn’t think it was all that “cool” to curse. I didn’t feel older, more mature or even more like a “bad boy.” I felt nothing. I decided in that field that day that cursing is really stupid and that I would never participate in it. My mother did tell me one time, “only uneducated people curse.” Whoa. That was odd hearing her say that. She explained that educated people use words that are far more effective than just grabbing a cheap, crass curse word. I never forgot that.

The point of the psalmist and of the prophets is this, just because God doesn’t immediately respond doesn’t mean he doesn’t hear, see or know what we are doing. He is neither threatened nor impressed with our creative ability to do evil. It simply breaks his heart to see us wallowing in our own stupidity. Sorry for the using the preschooler curse word, “stupid” so much, “stupid is as stupid does,” someone once said 😀.

Prayer

Dad,
This is the way it goes. Life and living is amazing! However, carrying, managing or trying to get away from our own sin, brokenness, and weakness is really hard and honestly, pretty crummy. I know you see, hear and know all and now that I’ve committed my entire life and future to you, it’s still embarrassing 😳. Of course I am thankful for your grace, mercy and most of all your patience.