Hello,<\/p>\n
I want to say that I really do like your website.<\/p>\n
I have a question about my thoughts. I am a Christian. I obeyed the gospel last year. I previously cussed like a sailor, but I’ve gotten really good at watching my language. I constantly worry that I’ll mess up and say a foul word that is always on my mind. I don’t ever say them, but I hear them in my head. Any suggestions on how to overcome this trial?<\/p>\n\t
Congratulations on making Jesus Christ your Lord!<\/p>\n
There are two halves to changing. We often forget this because we are focused on removing sin from our lives. “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts<\/em>” (Romans 13:14). Removing sin is only half the problem. We must also replace sinful behaviors with righteous ones.<\/p>\n “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear<\/em>” (Ephesians 4:29).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n When you catch yourself swearing in your head, stop a moment and consider what you can say that would actually benefit the people around you and then say it. It won’t be easy at first, especially in the heat of passion, but repeatedly exercising in this way will help you train yourself to think about situations in a different light.<\/p>\n “But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him — a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all. \u00a0So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you<\/em>” (Colossians 3:8-13).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Paul gives us a roadmap to how to change. You put aside abusive speech and then focus on learning what God wants you to become. The more you learn from your Bible, the more your thought patterns will change — not overnight but over time. The goal is to become more like Christ. One of the big problems with profanity is that people lose control when they get angry. Thus, we learn to be compassionate, kind, humble, gentle, and patient. Instead of holding grudges, we learn to forgive. These things are easier to obtain when we spend time actually listening to other people and trying to see things from their perspective. “This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls<\/em>” (James 1:19-21).<\/p>\n Finally, learn to put up a fight with your thoughts. When you catch yourself thinking of profanity, force yourself to stop and reword the thought in terms that don’t contain foul words. “Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you<\/em>” (James 4:7).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: Hello, I want to say that I really do like your website. I have a question about my thoughts. I am a Christian. I obeyed the gospel last year. I previously cussed like a sailor, but I’ve gotten really good at watching my language. I constantly worry that I’ll mess up and say a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[492],"class_list":["post-33719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-profanity"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":37349,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-christian-believe-in-god-and-not-believe-in-prayer\/","url_meta":{"origin":33719,"position":0},"title":"Can a Christian believe in God and not believe in prayer?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 24, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can a Christian believe in God but not believe in prayer? I'm a member of the church but I don't believe in prayer? How do I overcome that? Answer: Let's work backward. You say you don't believe in prayer, yet the Bible says that Jesus taught, \"Then He spoke\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":35956,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/where-does-the-bible-suggest-swearing-is-a-sin\/","url_meta":{"origin":33719,"position":1},"title":"Where does the Bible suggest swearing is a sin?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 20, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Where does the Bible suggest swearing is a sin? And how does it define what words or type of words are to be considered sinful to say? We all understand that taking God's name in vain is a sin. We are told this in the Bible directly. But I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25348,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-the-baptism-of-the-holy-spirit-give-you-the-power-to-fight-sin\/","url_meta":{"origin":33719,"position":2},"title":"Does the baptism of the Holy Spirit give you the power to fight sin?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 19, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi! Does the baptism of the Holy Spirit give you the power to fight sin? Does the baptism of the Holy Spirit give you the power to overcome sin? Answer: Peter was baptized with the Holy Spirit: \"Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, 'John\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":45891,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-a-sin-not-to-use-the-right-name-to-address-god-or-jesus\/","url_meta":{"origin":33719,"position":3},"title":"Is it a sin not to use the right name to address God or Jesus?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 2, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello Sir, Will God or Jesus condemn us or punish us for not knowing the right name to call Him? I've seen some say that it's a form of idolatry or worshiping someone else if you don't know the correct name to call God or Jesus. Some say his\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23270,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-we-only-greet-in-the-name-of-the-lord-jesus-christ\/","url_meta":{"origin":33719,"position":4},"title":"Should we only greet in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 9, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Dear Brother, Greetings to you. Is there any regulation to greet only in the name of Christ? Or can we greet in the name of Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit? Could you please clarify this, brother? Thanks. Answer: Of the many passages that mention greetings, none say \"in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23640,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-there-be-no-condemnation-if-christians-can-sin\/","url_meta":{"origin":33719,"position":5},"title":"How can there be no condemnation if Christians can sin?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 27, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I've been trying to fit Romans 8:1 and I John 1:7-10. We know that if we walk in the light then we can ask for the forgiveness of our sins and they are cleansed. How does Romans 8:1 come into play?\u00a0 If we sin, we are separated from God.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33719","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33719"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33719\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}