Swearing

[msjones21]

From the time I was 13 I cussed like a sailor. I remember guys telling me I had a filthy mouth and I didn't care, although I often times wondered why they never wanted to date me LOL The big one for me is the *s* word. I said it when I was mad, I said it referring to stuff such as "hey, go grab that *S* over there" A thirty minute span of time couldn't pass without me peppering my conversations with foul language. It was unattractive, un-ladylike, and displeasing to the Lord. Now that I am a new being in Christ I strive not to use profanity and even though I still slip, I make a conscious effort to *not* curse. I think swearing is a common problem, even for Christians. We hear profanity on TV, in the music we hear, maybe our family or friends don't censor their language. No matter what the circumstances it is difficult getting into a holy mindset. It's actually kinda funny because I have substituted the phrase "oh ___" with "oh crumb!" LOL People look at me funny but at least I know I can vent my frustrations without diminishing my Christian witness.

How about you guys? Do you struggle with profanity? Is it a part of your daily life or does is just surface when you're angry? What words do you struggle with the most? Have you invented little swear word "substitutes"?

I would like to post a passage of Scripture before I let everyone else respond.

Jame 3:2-12

2 For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well.
[size=-1]3 Now if we put the bits into the horses' mouths so that they will obey us, we direct their entire body as well.
[size=-1]4 Look at the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, are still directed by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot desires.
[size=-1]5 So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things.See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire!
[size=-1]6 And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell.
[size=-1]7 For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race.
[size=-1]8 But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.
[/size][/size][/size][/size][/size][/size][size=-1][size=-1][size=-1][size=-1][size=-1][size=-1][size=-1]9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God;
[size=-1]10 from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way.
[size=-1]11 Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water?
[size=-1]12 Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh.

[/size][/size][/size][/size][/size][/size][/size][/size][/size][/size]

 

[mbuc]

How about you guys? Do you struggle with profanity?

**** no. Just kidding. Never been much of a problem for me. Major league kudos to you for re-training yourself not to use bad language. That's gotta be tough.

 

[Stanfi]

Growing up, my mom took me to church, and my dad didn't go. Mom taught me about Jesus, and dad taught me how to cuss. When I was young I was really bad. As I got older, I got convicted by it, and realized that it destroys my witness.

Today, lately in fact, I have been having trouble with it. If I get really frustrated or stressed, I seem to slip up. I do watch who I say things around. Mostly is just happens when I am talking to myself. I think this is just as bad, God knows what we say.

I've never consciously came us with subtitute words. I have had trouble with all of them, execpt using God's name in vain. That was always bad to me.

So, this is an area I need to work on better. I was told one time that "Cussing is an ingorant mind, trying desperately to express itself"

 

[kdet]

Yes, I have to say this is one of the hardest for me. You make a good point about how much we are exposed to hearing profanity and how easy it is to slip into saying it ourselves.
Through God's grace I am doing better though..I rarely curse anymore
But it is still a struggle daily and I think it probably always will be...it's funny that habit is more of a downfall for me than doing something wrong purposely.

 

[mina]

In middle school I did swear because I wanted to fit in with the "cool" kids. When I was saved at 14 that was one area that God really helped me clean up. I don't struggle with it. I don't allow myself to say things that are unedifying. Now that doesn't mean I'm perfect. Often in extremely stressful situations I have thought those words in my mind. I'm the only Christian in my family and everyone in my family curses. My brother is the worst- almost every other word out of his mouth is awful. Swearing really bothers me. I hear it a lot but I am very sensitive too it. If it's in a movie or on tv I switch channels or turn it off. I don't like it. It's just always seemed to me that these words are associated with anger and ignorance. It's just one more way that the world wants us to be like them. And this is not a put down to anyone here. I think it's good that those of you that struggle with it recognize that it's not edifying for you or your hearers. I want to encourage you to strive to rid yourselfs of it.

 

[LifeInYou]

Ms. Jones, you constantly amaze me. You've come a long way, what a powerful witness!

During my senior year in high school when I thought I was cool I used profanity occasionally. I am deeply saddened when I remember the various different friends I had who looked up to me and what a poor witness I was to them. I remember my best friend told me one time that this one girl who hung out with us wanted to be 'just like[me].' If only I was like Christ at that time!! I have tamed my tongue now and I've realized just how unintelligible people sound when the only words they have to use are curse words.

 

[ananar23]

Yeah, i had a little sailor inside me too....eventually he just left, maybe went back to sea. anyway, i dont cuss that often anymore now that that hes gone .

 

[danielb]

I struggle with swearing too, being ex Police & Royal Navy(the Police swore more). Its something I've been struggling with for a while, I have my good days and my bad days for it. Where you work I think can have a big effect on you in this regard as if everyone around you is swearing away then I think its easier to start swearing yourself as opposed to being in a Christian envrioment I find makes not swearing easier.

At the moment I think I have been doing quite well on the not swearing front, only if I getting really annoyed does it start usually. And I don't use sexual swear words as they just offend me plain and simple. Strange eh?

DanielB

 

[72_Chev_Truck]

Profanity sucks, but I still slip often. I used to add a cuss word into every sentence until a friend started doing it and then i tried to quit. most of the time that I slip is when im with old friends and we start talking smack or when I slip with a wrench while workin on vehicles.

 

[desi]

I dont have much problem with it but my wife curses several times a day despite my scolding.

 

[laura_lynn]

Profanity is a small habit I have, not a huge one though. About a year ago I had no problem with using the Lord's name in Vain, but now when I begin to say it when I am mad it always ends up "OH MY GOSH!!!!" instead of "OH MY GODDDDD!!", still said with a lot of enthusiasm and it sounds ridiculous. Doesn't have the same effect, which is a good thing I guess... hehe.

 

[wonder111]

I don't have a problem with it, but I'm not offended if somone around me says something like 'no sh**?' really? I would rather hear that, than someone calling someone a $%#&$%^&%^&

 

[growingupinhim]

Eph 5:4 Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks!

I guess I am rarity..I hardly ever raise my voice!

 

[Kaylynn]

I used to struggle with profanity a lot when I was younger...but have not had that problem since I became a child of God. Mostly because it's basically been cut out for me. I refuse to listen to secular music. I'm not saying its bad, that's just a personal conviction of mine. All I listen to is Christian cds or the Christian radio station. Secular music was something I left behind when I turned to God...so I don't hear any swearing in that. As for on tv and all...I don't watch television much as it is, I do more reading than anything, so I tend not to hear it there as well...and when I do watch television I watch gameshownetwork or the disney channel or something. I do hear it when I go to the movies sometimes, but that's a rare occurance in itself as well. And as for the work place, I work in a Christian business, swearing is off limits so I don't hear it there as well.

I do hear people swearing when I go out shopping or out to eat stuff like that, but I do pretty well to just filter it out of my head and ignore it. *shrugs* just me I guess...

 

[stubbornkelly]

I do, when it's prudent. But I'm prolly different than most because I don't consider the "bad words" to be bad words. They're just words. They have meaning, and they're sometimes appropriate, just like any other words. I personally don't see saying, "Oh, ****" any different than saying "Oh, rats." You're using "rats" in the same way as ****.

 

[canehdianhotstuff]

i only swear when i do something that results in hurting myself, like the classic hammer and thumb thing, i then swear at the hammer, even though its my fault. stuff like that.

 

[Kirisutokyoo-shinja]

Way back in 6th grade (yay, the kid is reminiscing), ok, so I've barely lived. Anyhow, at that time it was common for people my age to pick up cussing and foul language if such individuals had not already done so. I was never fond of profanity to begin with, yet being engrossed in environments stock full of it began to take a toll on me, I even began to periodically surprise myself, yet I would do my best to refrain. Then for one week, and one week only, I decided to let myself go. I cussed whenever I felt like it, I cussed whenever it "sounded" right, I cussed purposefully just to do it because I was "cussing" for a week too. Well actually, I don't even think it lasted a week, maybe not even a day but that was my mind set. I decided very quickly that it was not for me, yet at that time I had no biblical basis for my belief against it, not until later did I find references. I determined that I would not cuss ever, period, nada, and no more. So I began to work on it, and the stand I took was that everything has a spirit. (which it does) And that I was constantly in a battle with a spirit of unclean language. As the original poster, I made a conscious effort not to cuss. I also made a conscious effort to not even think the word, because thinking such things in response to any situation is no different than me saying the word, because I would have to think it before I could even come about saying it. And I also determined that there was not difference between thought and action in such senses. Seems people were either marveled or impudent towards me because of my rather clean language. Yeah, got ridiculed too and other mess, anyway that is besides the point. It can be done with God's help of course, I also eventually had to pray about it, which I should have been doing from the very start. Because on my own it seemed that I had achieved the goal at hand, but I found out very differently in 8th grade where many provoked me on purpose, many just to undermine my attempts at respectable language. And lo and behold, one day I broke out and used every word in the book. Yet I sounded stupid anyway because it had been so long since that brief "week" three years prior to the event, and it felt funny even saying the words. Anyway, after the fact I felt horrible, embarrassed, and ashamed, not to mention everyone either staring at me with blank face or rolling on the floor gasping for air laughing. That is when I realized that even though I could control myself and my thoughts very well under normal circumstances, that the actual problem was still there. What is in you will come out of you. Which means that that type of spirit still dwelled within me. That is where the prayer began, there is only one other incident in 9th grade, but that was on a much smaller scale, not that it really matters the size of the scale. Yet after that point I came to a time in my life when I realized that I was/am truly delivered from all of that. Anyhow, just a little testimony in that area.
I would also like to state that I am very opposed to such language and for the longest time that caused problems because people would either play fake around me, or use profanity to spite me purposefully. When it finally came to my attention that some of the "cleanest" speakers around me, were really not like that at all, but only when I was within hearing range because they didn't want to offend me made me really contemplate the way I approached people about the issue. I usually came on strong int he beginning, probably in a completely wrong fasion, forcing my thoughts on them that it wasn't right and that it offends me and I didn't like it...blah this and that. So I began to understand that the only person I could truly change in that respect was myself (which had already happened) and just pray that the example I portrayed was well recieved, noticed, and perhaps taken up as well. So I stopped the very forward "attacks" on others, unless they were in fact a fellow Christian whom I would then show them the truth about such language in the bible. Yet I changed my approach to them as well, to a more meek manner, and a non-condencending admonition. I began to then realize, after time, that even without me forwardly expressing my thoughts to others, and even those who had not encountered me in my former state of mind about the issue started to some how or another understand that I did not desire to hear those kinds of things. Some events also resulted in individuals apologizing, for language use, although I am not the one the apology should go to, but our Father above.
I personally find it very unattractive when a female uses coarse language. The image portrayed is reduced dramatically. But that is just me.
Stubbornkelly, I agree that saying "oh rats" as substitution is no different than using the original word, which is why I try not to do things like that.
Well, as usual, I just rambled a whole bunch of mess off. I don't even talk that much haha.
Have a wonderfully blessed day,
Da Shinja

 

[wvmtnkid]

Yep, had a bit of sailor talk in me as well. Mostly when I was a teenager to fit in with my friends. But then it became a habit. When I really started to take my committment to God seriously, the trash talk just sorta left on it's own. But I worked with some rough characters. And sometimes to get my point across to them, I had to resort to using language they took seriously, peppering it up a bit with "spicy words". Or at least I thought I did.

Now I don't. I sorta feel that with all of the words in the English lanugage, or whatever language you speak, if you can't get your point across without resorting to certain four letter words, then you have a problem. My boss is a highly educated man. But when he gets frustrated and angry, he cusses like a sailor. He is much too intelligent to use some of the words he does.

Something else I have noticed. I don't make a huge deal about my Christianity at were I work. The people I work with know I am a Christian. We have talked about religion in the past and it is a fair statement to say they know where I stand. I have never said anything about their language and what they choose to say, even though there are times I wish I would have spoken up about how they have used the name of God or Jesus. But lately I have noticed when they do cuss, they immediately look at me and apologize for what they have said. I just find it interesting. Obviously Someone is working on them......

 

[PetraFan007]

It's not about the word you say that makes it a swear. It's the attitude behind it. If you go oh **** or oh ****, and you are using it with the same attitude, it's just as wrong. The word you use means nothing. SO, therefore, we are always going to slip and curse because we are human, but there's nothing wrong with retraining our minds to be more positive and curse less.

 

[danielb]

RE: PetraFan007

The words you say can be important, as they can offend others(which is never good). But on an individual level I think your right its more of an attitude thing...

DanielB