I’ve found an alarming trend in my language over the past year. I have a tendency to cuss without cussing. You know the drill. Take any inappropriate word that you might want to shout out, and change it’s pronunciation slightly. Let’s see…

frick, frickin, farging, friggin, shat, shiznit, arse (the British/American cussword!), a-hole, “G”"D”—I could go on and on. Oh, don’t forget the “brought-to-you-by-the-letter” cussword, “eff-ing”.  Why do I pepper my language with this stuff? Is it’s usage not a picture of my heart? Is it not the linguistic version of the lustful, “I can look, I just can’t touch”?

This blog is coming out a little “tongue-in-cheek”, but I’m really serious. I’m reminded of the words of James: “Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?” In other words, if my heart is pure before God, can I actually be saying things that are both “pure in heart” and “tainted in heart”? My quasi-curse words are tainted.  Poison you can’t see is still poison.

It’s like when I was a little kid. We used to pretend to “flip each other off”. But what you did instead was you raise your ring finger instead of your middle finger. Can’t get in trouble for that now, can you? Not actually the bird! Get your parents on a technicality!

I don’t want to escape on a technicality anymore. My speech will always be a true reflection of my heart. And I want my heart to be pure. When I use words like the ones I’ve listed above, it’s because the real words are deep within me. And I want them out. I want my speech to glorify the Lord, even when I’m not talking about Him. I want it to build up and encourage those around me.

Thoughts?