by Perry Hall<\/p>\n
“Words are just words.” A friend who was a new Christian had just fired off an “F-bomb” while we were playing golf. When I suggested such language should not be used, he got angry and said, “Words are just words. I don’t mean anything by them.” Well, obviously he did because when he hit a bad drive, he didn’t say, “Mary Poppins!” Words mean things. We don’t speak gibberish.<\/p>\n
But why are cuss words wrong? Here are two passages that describe such language as in unbecoming of those talking the walk.<\/p>\n
“No foul language should come from your mouth, but only what is good for building up someone in need, so that it gives grace to those who hear<\/em>” (Ephesians 4:29).<\/p>\n
“Obscene and foolish talking or crude joking are not suitable, but rather giving thanks<\/em>” (Ephesians 5:4).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
But I’ll ask again, why is such language vile? The text says they don’t build up or give grace. They are the opposite of thankfulness. Here is where I am at a disadvantage. I don’t feel comfortable using such language to explain its spiritual deficiencies. Instead, I will try to describe the spiritual deficiencies themselves.<\/p>\n
\n
- Certain curse words put you in the place of God, sentencing people eternally.<\/li>\n
- Certain words demean others or their efforts by comparing them to defecation.<\/li>\n
- Certain words are violent in meaning, especially connoting sexual violence.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
“But I don’t mean these things. I just get mad and need to say something.” That excuse is also part of the problem. Using words that have a meaning, but using them void of meaning, is still wrong. Have you heard people who use “Jesus” in vain, as a filler word, or even in combination with vulgarity? The speaker is possibly even unaware of what he is saying. However, words do mean things. If they didn’t, then there is no such thing as lying or telling the truth.<\/p>\n
There’s an old saying, “Birds of a feather flock together.” Have you noticed what other verbal wrongs are contextually connected to cussing?<\/p>\n
\n
- “Futility of thoughts” (Ephesians 4:17) (i.e. “words are just words”)<\/li>\n
- “Lying” (Ephesians 4:25)<\/li>\n
- “Be angry yet do not sin” (Ephesians 4:26)<\/li>\n
- “Bitterness, anger and wrath, shouting and slander, with all malice” (Ephesians 4:31)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Cursing is wrong because it is the wrong use of the tongue, but also the unloving abuse of others.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Perry Hall “Words are just words.” A friend who was a new Christian had just fired off an “F-bomb” while we were playing golf. When I suggested such language should not be used, he got angry and said, “Words are just words. I don’t mean anything by them.” Well, obviously he did because when…<\/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,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[492],"class_list":["post-44503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-profanity"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9935,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-we-post-memes-that-contain-bad-language\/","url_meta":{"origin":44503,"position":0},"title":"Should we post memes that contain bad language?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 19, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have been talking to someone about the Facebook memes they post that contains offensive language. I was telling them that it's not right as a Christian, but he says things like, \"Well, sometimes you have to to get the point across\" and \"Just ignore that part.\" He doesn't\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":37328,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-we-trust-the-translation-of-the-bible-since-languages-change\/","url_meta":{"origin":44503,"position":1},"title":"Should we trust the translation of the Bible since languages change?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 22, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I was wondering, should we be so confident to trust the translation of the Bible, seeing that language changes and the Greek spoken back then is most likely not the current Greek. Also with English and any other language, Language changes through time, words and meanings sometimes change\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":83748,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-speaking-in-tongues-for-communicating-with-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":44503,"position":2},"title":"Is speaking in tongues for communicating with God?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 28, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: May God continue to strengthen you guys in Jesus' name. Amen. You may not be aware, but many issues arise with the topic of speaking in tongues here. A brother recently sent me some voice notes discussing speaking in tongues with a man. He explained that speaking in tongues,\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":42032,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-are-there-random-italic-words-in-my-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":44503,"position":3},"title":"Why are there random italic words in my Bible?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 2, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: So what is with these random italics in passages? Example: \"And those\u00a0members of the body, which we think to be less honorable, upon these we bestow more abundant honor; and our uncomely parts\u00a0have more abundant comeliness.\" It's everywhere. Random words emphasized for what reason? This one: \"Let their table\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":47622,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/shelomiths-son\/","url_meta":{"origin":44503,"position":4},"title":"Shelomith’s Son","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 13, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Leviticus 24:10-23 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Shelomith had married a non-Israelite and it appears that her son took more after his father than his mother \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He got into a fight with an Israelite. During the fight he cursed and blasphemed the name of God. For this he was jailed.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":93784,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-language-of-feelings\/","url_meta":{"origin":44503,"position":5},"title":"The Language of Feelings","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 8, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Gardner Hall Have you heard this type of language from disciples you know? \"I took it as a sign that God wanted us to be here.\" \"I think that God was trying to tell me something by allowing this to happen.\" \"I felt a providential nudge to do it.\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44503","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=44503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44503\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}