the hcos weekly: october special edition

The HCOS Weekly October Special Edition Christians and Cursing By Deanna Burmato & Samara Paine Let me ask you a question. Is swearing wrong? “Of course!” You might say. Is slang wrong? “Sometimes…” So, what’s the dierence? “It’s not as bad as saying the actual word!” Or is it? I don’t know about you, but the older I become the more urge I get to use dirty language. Honestly, I’ve never actually sworn, but I find myself letting out a ‘heck’ every once in a while, or ‘dang’, or sometimes even ‘Oh my God’. When I was younger, those words would have been horrible in my opinion! But as I get older, I start hearing worse and worse language all the time, and so it gets harder and harder to abstain from it. Can you relate? As teenage Christians, I think it’s really important to keep a pure tongue, especially when everyone else isn’t. When everybody around you is swearing or using the Lord’s name in vain, don’t you think that it would be the perfect time to re- frain from using those words, to shine for Jesus? But if we blend in, how are we going to be a light for the Lord? Many people, including Christians, oen use euphemisms instead of swear words. But a euphemism is a fancy name for a “less oensive” synonym of a swear word- ex. ticked instead of pissed. So why do we, as Christians, oen think that euphemisms are okay to use, when they mean the exact same thing? Ephesians 5:4 says, “Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.” This verse doesn’t say let there be some foolish talk and crude joking… it says let there be none. For instance, did you know that saying ‘dang’ or ‘darn’ is the same thing as saying ‘Go to Hell’? We need to understand what these euphemisms actually mean and stop using them, because “It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” (Matthew 15:11). It’s slow- ly defiling us. It’s destroying, pol- luting, and shaming us. Do we really want to keep trashing the tem- ple of the Holy Spirit? Also, have you ever really consid- ered how much you dishonour God’s name? It really starts to add up, doesn’t it? So much, in fact, that you probably don’t realize how oen you’re saying it and how bad it really is! Saying things like ‘Oh my Gosh’, ‘Oh my Goodness’, and ‘Oh my Word’ instead of using ‘Oh my God’ is still very disrespect- ful towards Him. I, myself, have struggled deeply in this area. Many of you are probably very fa- miliar with the following verse, but have we actually taken it into consideration? Exodus 20:7 says, “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.” This means we are held guilty every time we used words that dishonour God, just as we are guilty if we steal, think low- ly of someone, and disobey our parents. Colossians 3:8 commands us to not use obscene or dirty language when we are angry. Instead, we should ask God to help us be wise about the situation and to help us control our tongues and tempers. One more verse I’d like to share with you is John 8:31-32. It says, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” Again, I really think that we as Christians need to take this into consideration. How will the people around us know that we stand for Jesus if we are using abusive and insulting words that everyone else uses? We have to let the light of Je- sus shine through us, to avoid con- forming to the darkness. Let’s start a revolution. Are you with me?

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Our first EVER mid-week special edition! Enjoy.

TRANSCRIPT

The HCOS WeeklyOctober Special Edition

Christians and Cursing

By Deanna Burmato! & Samara Paine

Let me ask you a question.Is swearing wrong?“Of course!” You might say.Is slang wrong?“Sometimes…”So, what’s the di!erence?“It’s not as bad as saying the actual word!”Or is it?

I don’t know about you, but the older I become the more urge I get to use dirty language. Honestly, I’ve never actually sworn, but I find myself letting out a ‘heck’ every once in a while, or ‘dang’, or some-times even ‘Oh my God’. When I was younger, those words would have been horrible in my opinion! But as I get older, I start hearing worse and worse language all the time, and so it gets harder and harder to abstain from it. Can you relate?

As teenage Christians, I think it’s really important to keep a pure tongue, especially when everyone else isn’t. When everybody around you is swearing or using the Lord’s name in vain, don’t you think that it would be the perfect time to re-

frain from using those words, to shine for Jesus? But if we blend in, how are we going to be a light for the Lord?

Many people, including Christians, o"en use euphemisms instead of swear words. But a euphemism is a fancy name for a “less o!ensive” synonym of a swear word- ex. ticked instead of pissed. So why do we, as Christians, o"en think that euphemisms are okay to use, when they mean the exact same thing?

Ephesians 5:4 says, “Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.” This verse doesn’t say let there be some foolish talk and crude joking… it says let there be none.

For instance, did you know that saying ‘dang’ or ‘darn’ is the same thing as saying ‘Go to Hell’? We need to understand what these eu-phemisms actually mean and stop using them, because “It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the m o u t h ; t h i s d e f i l e s a person.” (Matthew 15:11). It’s slow-ly defiling us. It’s destroying, pol-luting, and shaming us. Do we real-ly want to keep trashing the tem-ple of the Holy Spirit?

Also, have you ever really consid-ered how much you dishonour God’s name? It really starts to add up, doesn’t it? So much, in fact, that you probably don’t realize how o"en you’re saying it and how

bad it really is! Saying things like ‘Oh my Gosh’, ‘Oh my Goodness’, and ‘Oh my Word’ instead of using ‘Oh my God’ is still very disrespect-ful towards Him. I, myself, have struggled deeply in this area.

Many of you are probably very fa-miliar with the following verse, but have we actually taken it into con-sideration? Exodus 20:7 says, “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.” This means we are held guilty every time we used words that dishonour God, just as we are guilty if we steal, think low-ly of someone, and disobey our parents.

Colossians 3:8 commands us to not use obscene or dirty language when we are angry. Instead, we should ask God to help us be wise about the situation and to help us control our tongues and tempers.

One more verse I’d like to share with you is John 8:31-32. It says, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”

Again, I really think that we as Christians need to take this into consideration. How will the people around us know that we stand for Jesus if we are using abusive and insulting words that everyone else uses? We have to let the light of Je-sus shine through us, to avoid con-forming to the darkness. Let’s start a revolution. Are you with me?