I’ve started school at School of Ministry yesterday, and it has been really awesome. Every moment during the lectures, the Holy Spirit was ministering to me and changing my heart and my life. This week we’ve been learning about Praise and Worship, and I felt compelled to share on a certain issue here.
Being through 2 years of National Service, many guys would know the way people speak in there. Every single moment of the day, I would hear various expressions of anger, discontent or injustice through words. Now these words are so commonly used that they become part of people’s speech, whether they are using it in anger or not. Of course, I am referring to vulgarities.
I believe that Christians would generally not speak like that, but how about things like “Oh my God”or “damn”? They may seem less harmful or less vulgar, but they are not.
“You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.”
Exodus 20:7
Our God is the creator of the universe, the strong and mighty God who gives, who takes away, who judges and gives mercy. He is the God who loves and sent His Son to die for us. He is the God who rose from the dead. He surpasses all time, who was, who is, and is to come! If we proclaim Him to be our one true God, how can we, with the same mouth use His name to curse!
You must understand that we are talking about something serious here. It is not “try to reduce the number of times you say it”, or “maybe we can use words that don’t talk about God”. You would have missed the point. Too often we see God as our Closest Friend, our Provider, our Strong Tower, our Refuge and Strength. These are not wrong, but when was the last time we acknowledged God as the great and mighty God, the King over our lives?
Our generation of youth are seeking God fervently, taking part in Charismatic activities. They want to seek and know and feel God in their lives. The want the power of the Holy Spirit in the Kingdom of God. But they have not known the fear of the Lord. That our God is one who commands all respect and all glory in all ways. We are but little humans greatly indebted to a God who never needed to care about us!
“With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.”
James 3:9-12
Fresh water and salt water cannot flow from the same spring. Likewise, if your heart has been changed by God and transformed into the likeness of Christ, you cannot help but speak good things that edify and build up. Only a heart with anger and hatred can bear vulgarities.
For all other forms of cursing and useless words, do you not know that we will be judged in the end for every word that we said? Every good word and every idle word, we will be judged.
“Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken.
For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”
Matthew 12:33-37
