the words from our mouths...

"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

everyday, on tv and in real life, i hear people blurting out swear words. and evermore increasingly, i am hearing "God" and "Jesus" as the primary choice words. it can be almost any situation: fear, surprise, anger, amazement, irritation, unhappiness, happiness, pain, frustration, weariness... the list goes on. and it seems that once people start saying it, they can't seem to stop... like repeating the phrase over and over makes the person feel they'll be heard more.

i expect this from people who don't believe in Jesus as their God and Savior. to non-Christians, it's just a word, just an easy phrase that pops out and communicates the feeling they feel. but more and more, i'm hearing it from people who profess to be Christian! now this surprises me!

i hear Christians say, "God!" or "Jesus!" when something surprises them or when something seems frustrating. some would argue that they are actually calling out to Him. most of the time, i think that's a baloney excuse. the way it is said doesn't sound anything like sincere, but instead, sounds completely like the usual exclamation heard on tv or anywhere else. there are very few instances when someone is actually talking to God and pleading for His help or presence in their situation. 

and do you realize that all of these following words are synonyms for God or Jesus? gosh, golly, gee, geez or jeez, egad, jeepers, sheesh, crikey, lawdy, lordy, gadzooks, drat, blimey... and this doesn't even cover the words we substitute for other serious words we shouldn't use flippantly, like hell or damn.

why does it matter?

in the original 10 commandments given to Moses for the Israelite people, God listed the above command NOT to use His name lightly. it was the 3rd commandment, which, to me, says it's pretty important. the 10 commandments were God's 'bare minimum', as my pastor recently said, of what God requires from people who desire to please Him. 

why is it so important anyway? it's just a word, just a name; does it really matter? God said, "YES, it matters!" 

you see, God is our Creator.

not only that, He is all-powerful, He knows everything (including our thoughts) and is everywhere.

He is the Rule-Maker.

and though He is all those incredible things, He gave us the choice to accept or reject Him as our God.

over and over and over in history, we as people rejected to follow Him. BUT, even though we rejected Him blatantly, He desired to win us back, enough that He sent Jesus to be our Savior, to die in our place!

Jesus then conquered death by coming alive again! and He lives forever as King of the Universe!

so using His name carelessly and as a swear word really is disrespectful. it's worse than if someone chose to donate a kidney to you because you were dying, and when you get out of the operating room, you roll your eyes at him, say "what an idiot," blow him off, and head straight for a bar to get drunk (which would be extremely unhealthy for a kidney). what a slap in the face!

our words are important, even the little ones.

"For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But i tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken."

Matthew 12:34b-36

and Jesus did mean EVERY careless word when He said this. that sounds like words are pretty important. how many careless words have you spoken today? that isn't just using God's name, but any careless word... 

and i find it important that it says our words come straight out of our hearts. if your mouth isn't speaking purity, what do you think that means about your heart?

"Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water."

James 3:10-12

we can also use our mouths for good things:

"A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver." Proverbs 25:11

words are important. 

if you are a Christian, the only next step for you is to stop flippantly and disrespectfully misusing the names of Jesus and God and whatever other variations come out of your mouth. the fact that you hear it all the time is not an excuse; we are called to be DIFFERENT, and your speech is an easy way for non-Christians to tell if you are any different from them. you should be in a daily growing relationship with Jesus, so that your heart and thus, your mouth, are being purified. yes, it takes time for all the garbage to be removed out of our lives. i didn't even realize till today that the word 'drat' is an old variation of 'God rot,' so it's a word i need to remove from my vocabulary too, starting now! 

if you are someone who just claims to be a Christian, or someone who claims another religion or no religion at all, i suggest you seriously contemplate to whom you are speaking when you call out the name "Jesus Christ" or "God." you only get this one life to make your decision to follow Him or not, and you are not promised to live through tomorrow! when your life is over, you will answer to Jesus, and to God, His Father. and this is what God thinks of Jesus:

"God exalted [Jesus] to the highest place 

and gave Him the name that is above every name, 

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth, 

and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, 

to the glory of God the Father."

Philippians 2:9-11