Not Using God's Name in Vain

[PrincessLDG]

Sometimes when I am shocked by something, embarrassed or upset, I would say "Oh my word!", "Oh my stars!", "Oh my gosh!" or "Dadgummit!" I was told by my family member that saying "Oh my gosh!" was bad. He says "Oh my goodness!" a lot. Why is "Oh my gosh!" worse to say than "Oh my goodness!"? If I am disrespecting God in any way, I will stop in a heartbeat and ask him for forgiveness because I didn't know that was wrong.

 

[timothyu]

When you justify a human action by using God to do so, you have used His name in vain. Nothing that serves man's will, does God approve of. Those that like to use God to justify their deeds prefer we use the alternate meaning of speaking in vain that you have spoken of to divert attention from themselves and what it means to use God's name in vain.

 

[tulc]

First off: WELCOME TO CF!! I HOPE YOU'RE BLESSED BY YOUR TIME HERE!!
And secondly, wouldn't "gosh" have to be His name in order for "oh my gosh" to be thought of as "taking the Lords name in vain"?
and lastly: the more accurate way to understand "taking the name in vain" would be:

"You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God"

which would be timothyu's point.
tulc(hopes that helps)

 

[ElihishuaibnDabitbarAbbas]

Christ made it really simple how to avoid dragging Fathers name thru the mud.
Don't be like those hypocrites who go out on the rooftop vainly laying claim on the salvation that only our Father provides.
We are to humble ourselves at His feet, laying down our pride and asking mercy in His Annointeds name.
Salvation is a gift that no man deserves. Gratitude is to be expressed privately and praises meekly.

There are no dirty words or talk of gosh goodness holy cows or otherwise that are consistent with the easily overlooked vanity law.
Because them who still break it, seem, for all intents and purposes, to be the cleanest sheep in the yard.

 

[PrincessLDG]

First off: WELCOME TO CF!! I HOPE YOU'RE BLESSED BY YOUR TIME HERE!!
And secondly, wouldn't "gosh" have to be His name in order for "oh my gosh" to be thought of as "taking the Lords name in vain"?
and lastly: the more accurate way to understand "taking the name in vain" would be:

which would be timothyu's point.
tulc(hopes that helps)

Thank you for the welcome. It's good to have other Christians to talk to. I don't have anyone to talk to since I don't have any friends.

 

[Sabertooth]

Sometimes when I am shocked by something, embarrassed or upset, I would say "Oh my word!", "Oh my stars!", "Oh my gosh!" or "Dadgummit!" I was told by my family member that saying "Oh my gosh!" was bad. He says "Oh my goodness!" a lot. Why is "Oh my gosh!" worse to say than "Oh my goodness!"? If I am disrespecting God in any way, I will stop in a heartbeat and ask him for forgiveness because I didn't know that was wrong.

The phrases that you described in your OP are known as "minced oaths."

Originally, the speaker would say them while THINKING the uncensored version, which really WAS taking God's Name in vain. (Our thought life is subject to God's Judgment, too [see Matthew 5:21-30].) In modern times, it is less common for the speaker to be thinking such.

1. If you ARE thinking the offensive version, you need to go before God and deal with it.
2. If you are not, you just need to decide (with the Holy Spirit) if you are comfortable using phrases that have that kind of origin. No condo. No bondo.

 

[Friedrich Rubinstein]

I would say "Oh my goodness" as well. It's a common phrase in my mother tongue ("Ach Du meine Güte") and not related to the version that includes God's name (at least here in Germany). I don't see any issue with "Oh my stars" or whatever you wanna say.
It's actually a useful thing to re-define certain phrases to avoid specific words while not having to avoid the whole phrase. For example I'd say "what the fish" instead of what other people might say.

The thing with "gosh" is that it sounds so similar to "God" so I would never use it. I don't even know whether gosh is a real word in English or just a substitute for God

 

[PrincessLDG]

I would say "Oh my goodness" as well. It's a common phrase in my mother tongue ("Ach Du meine Güte") and not related to the version that includes God's name (at least here in Germany). I don't see any issue with "Oh my stars" or whatever you wanna say.
It's actually a useful thing to re-define certain phrases to avoid specific words while not having to avoid the whole phrase. For example I'd say "what the fish" instead of what other people might say.

The thing with "gosh" is that it sounds so similar to "God" so I would never use it. I don't even know whether gosh is a real word in English or just a substitute for God

Okay. I will try my best not to say "gosh" then.