Have you ever been in a situation where you were using a hammer to drive in a series of nails and hit your hand with it, to be followed by an immediate impulse to blurt out a swear word? Or in the event of driving on the freeway and someone cuts you off, you stop yourself right before the dreaded four-letter word comes to your lips? For some reason, in highly stressful and tension-drenched situations, we all are tempted to use curse words, even if we do not give in to the desire to do so. But, what is this temptation? Why are we often, under certain conditions, driven to say such words? In fact, I have heard that a study once done on the last words that some pilots had said right before their plane crashed were curse words. It would appear that these sorts of words not only indicate anger or fear, but also surprise. So why do we call them curse words? And furthermore, if they are not for the purpose of cursing, then why are they wrong? Is there a Biblical prohibition for all of these words, or just some of them? Let us see what is wrong with them, why they are referred to as ‘cursing’ and why we must refrain from them as Christians.

There are conspicuous examples of words that are directly related to a ‘curse’ against someone. For instance, the word D@#N undoubtedly is in reference to damning someone to some undesirable state. Even when we direct the word to no one at all, the motivation behind ‘damning’ someone is still there. Remember, God judges our heart first. Although we are not outwardly directing this expression to someone, we are still acting as if someone were there to say it to. It is also important to mention that this action is reserved for God alone. It is our mission to love, not condemn. Only God, who judges perfectly, can wish this and perform it.

The term swearing, in contrast to cursing, comes from making a verbal promise for something that can not, or more appropriately should not, be made. For example, if I say, “I swear, you make me sick!� What I am saying, in essence, is that whatever ‘you’ did that rubbed me the wrong way was, not only the cause of my ill feelings for ‘you’, but was also a direct reflection of who you are, which I judge to be bad, or maligned. Now this again is a judgement that we should not make. When we swear, ultimately, we are claiming a deeper knowledge and understanding of something that we do not have, and an ability to do something we can not do, such as, “I swear, I’ll get you back.�

Where these two distinct inner motivations meet is in their goal, to make a decision or resolve that is not ours to make. It would be like someone going around giving out tickets to people that are double-parked in the street, or handing out citations. Maybe, the cars that are parked that way have a reason for doing so, such as, emergency vehicles, loading and unloading materials, and the like. Only someone who is trained in the law and knows where such practices are appropriate and where they are not can decide this. Swearing and cursing are not our business, as the Bible rightly informs us.

But, what of the words that are not obvious forms of swearing at or to someone, or placing a curse upon them? The four-letter words I mentioned earlier can be placed in this category. Well, naturally these words are truly vulgar and represent acts or material that are not appropriate to discuss. In Paul’s letters, he warned us not to allow such speech to come out of our mouths.

Ephesians 4:29 tells us, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." 1 Peter 3:10 declares, "For, Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech." James 3:9-12 summarizes the issue, "With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water."

If soap will not do, then there must be some other way to clean up our thinking. For really, these words that neither express a direct curse or promise, still attempt to characterize the world in a dirty, filthy manner. For it is really a way of thinking about life and the world that conjures up such language. There may be things on this earth that are disgusting, but that is what garbage cans are made for, not mouths.

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