Swearing and vulgarity have become so much more commonplace in recent years. Sadly, many people hardly realize that they are offending God and misusing his Holy Name. Fifty years ago, parents and teachers would often say, “watch your mouth” when someone used bad language. Many are they these days who cannot say a sentence without some vulgarity thrown in, or some expletive for emphasis. While swearing is a serious sin against the Holy Name of Jesus, vulgarities are crude ways of talking that are unbecoming of one who is a disciple of our Lord.
It has become common-place to hear “potty-mouth” talk just about anywhere you go. Instead of challenging it, we gradually adapt to it and perhaps even make it our own. Instead of raising the standard of what is acceptable, we tolerate it and then succumb to it ourselves. Again, this is beneath the dignity of one who is a disciple of Jesus, and I think we ought to frame it in those terms. Truly, we should strive to please the Lord in everything, especially in what we say, as well as in what we do. As Psalm 105:1 says, “Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done.” In other words, our speech ought to honor the Lord and give him praise!
Taking the name of the Lord in vain is the opposite of holding it sacred. Rather than honoring the Lord in our speech, our casual talk dishonors him. This is sinful and we ought to recognize it as such. And this pattern is not limited to our relationship with God. To speak poorly of others is to dishonor them, as well. But why is swearing and vulgarity so commonplace? I believe it is because we have not cultivated a true reverence and respect for God and his Holy Name in our hearts. Thus, we do not recognize Christ in our brothers and sisters who are made in his image and likeness.
Now imagine if, starting with the 2nd Commandment, we would strive to “turn the ship around.” Imagine if we focused on the 2nd Commandment and intentionally honored the Lord in all that we said about him. After all, if we truly love someone, it should be reflected in our speech to them and about them to others. In getting back to the basics, after putting God first in our lives (the 1st Commandment), what if we focused our attention on the praise and honor of God’s Holy Name, and that this would become our passion? If we truly love God, then our speech ought to reflect it.
Then, I believe, this would also affect how we speak to others and about others. If honoring them became the goal, then we could raise the bar on the state of public discourse. If we would speak so as to edify others, inspire them and treat them with their proper dignity, how much more honorable our conversations would be. Trained by the discipline of honoring the Lord at all times in our speech, we could regain a more respectful way of talking to others and about others by honoring Christ in them.
The Letter of James in the New Testament speaks of the “power of the tongue.” He writes, “Consider how small a fire can set a huge forest ablaze. The tongue is also a fire. It exists among our members as a world of malice, defiling the whole body and setting the entire course of our lives on fire, itself set on fire by Gehenna. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. This need not be so, my brothers.”
In the sacrament of reconciliation, when people confess swearing or using foul language, I try to help them remedy the situation. Frequent swearing or using vulgar language is a bad habit, so I would encourage them to adopt a good habit to replace the bad one. For example, imagine if you were to say the “Glory be” prayer every time you caught yourself swearing or using a vulgar word. At first you might be offering that prayer frequently. But eventually, you will be more mindful of your speech and catch yourself ahead of swearing, rather than after the fact. Eventually we can retrain ourselves by replacing bad habits with good ones.
It may prove helpful to find one of the many Psalms that sing the Lord’s praises, like Psalm 146, Psalm 40 or Psalm 98, and offer it prayerfully at the start of each day. Work at it. Be intentional about it. Renew the purification of your speech by honoring the Lord. Regularly singing the Lord’s praises will soon clean up foul language.
