Job 27:4
My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit.
Why do people curse? Is it instinct, an automatic response to something gone wrong. Is it carelessness of the tongue? A demonstration of one’s inability to form meaningful sentences concerning their woes and disappointments? In some cases it is more than simply a slip of the tongue and we as Christians need to watch what we say.
The Bible warns us of those who curse as can be demonstrated in Psalms. Psalms 10:7 His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity. Psalms 12:3-4 The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things: Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us? Psalms 50:19 Thou givest thy mouth to evil, and thy tongue frameth deceit.
But Psalms also tells of what character a person is according to his speech.
Psalms 15:1 LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill? 2 He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart. 3 He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour.
You should (Psalm 35:13) and (Psalm 35:28) because it is right to give glory and thanks to God for not simply for all that he has given us but for His very nature. Psalm 37:30 The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment.
But even our words are weapons for good or for evil. When we curse, gossip, or insult someone without justification we are like the people (Psalm 64:3). In the Biblical days the tongue was an important thing. In today’s world people don’t seem to be all that interested in what other people have to say. Psalm 109:2 For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me: they have spoken against me with a lying tongue.
Many of the prayers in Psalms are about oppression by evil men and one of many oppressions put on the Jewish people was vile speech. In the book of Tobit, a man by the name of Tobit goes forth and buries the dead as Jewish tradition instructs him to under pain of persecution. When he is persecuted by the pagan king for his noble actions and criticized by his fellow country men he asks the Lord for death, because he cannot stand the criticism he is receiving from the others.
Tobit 3:2 "Righteous art thou, O Lord; all thy deeds and all they ways are mercy and truth, and thou dost render true and righteous judgment for ever.
3: Remember me and look favorably upon me; do not punish me for my sins and for my unwitting offences and those which my fathers committed before thee.
4: For they disobeyed thy commandments, and thou gavest us over to plunder, captivity, and death; thou madest us a byword of reproach in all the nations among which we have been dispersed.
5: And now thy many judgments are true in exacting penalty from me for my sins and those of my fathers, because we did not keep thy commandments. For we did not walk in truth before thee.
6: And now deal with me according to thy pleasure; command my spirit to be taken up, that I may depart and become dust. For it is better for me to die than to live, because I have heard false reproaches, and great is the sorrow within me. Command that I now be released from my distress to go to the eternal abode; do not turn thy face away from me."
And in Proverbs we have another verse demonstrating the importance of what we say. Proverbs 10:31 The mouth of the just bringeth forth wisdom: but the froward tongue shall be cut out. 32 The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable: but the mouth of the wicked speaketh frowardness.
For indeed God makes his judgments not only on our actions but our words. Isaiah 3:8 For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the LORD, to provoke the eyes of his glory.
Many hellish images give us an idea concerning the torments of hell including the idea of severe thirst, the burning of the tongue, so much so that the rich man’s first demand is to have some relief on his tongue. Luke 16:24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
James: 3:6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. 7 For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: 8 But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. 9 Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. 10 Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. 11 Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? 12 Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.
2 Peter: 3:10 For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile:
1 John 3:8 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
What kind of curse Peter used to deny Christ is unknown to us, but the message is clear. Peter denied Christ with a curse. Matthew 26:74 Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew.
Isn’t it easier to pray for those who swear and curse the Christian theology when you’re tongue itself is clean. Luke 6:28 Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.
Matthew 5:34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne: 35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. 36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. 37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil
James: 5:12 But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.
Many words we consider to be “curse words” are not in the Bible because they were formed after the formation of the Bible but considering the spirit of the Bible we can make assumptions that cursing is by itself harmful to the soul. One of our Commandments is: Thou shall not take the Lord your God in vain. Now, Christ didn’t free us of this commandments, he continued onto it by saying you shall love God with all of your mind, heart, body, and soul and love your neighbor as yourself. How can one love God if he curses His name?
We as Christians also do not have the right to damn someone to hell, only God has such authority and it is presumptuous of us to think otherwise. Such cursing as God d___ him or her is not helpful and is almost a prayer to God to do harm onto others. Of course in Psalms we have many examples of prayers to God to destroy our enemies, but it is quite another thing to damn someone to hell or even to presume we could do such a thing. It goes against the spirit of the Gospel in that we should love our enemies. Hate the sin, but love the sinner. In this same manner I hate cursing but I still love the person who curses, because it is not my right to do otherwise. In most cases people say this word simply out of anger and rage which can of course lead to even more violence outside the tongue.
When someone says God d____ this or that concerning an object such as a car it not only proves foolishness, (how can God d___ a car or whatever) it really is demeaning to the word God. In the Old Testament days God was a holy name and should still be venerated today. The F____ word considered many to be a serious word, but is present in many modern movies and typical speech comes from the German word Fick which means to penetrate. Again this is demeaning to act of sex which is of course sanctified in marriage, a sin otherwise, but purely idiotic way of using language. The S___ word comes from the English word scitte, the German word scheissen and the Dutch word schijten which means literally diarrhea. Indeed during the Plague a symptom which would eventually kill you was diarrhea and thus this word became a curse word. Perhaps not a sin on it’s own but an example of how people can use a word it was not intended for.
As a rule I simply don’t curse. It’s a bad habit and habits start the moment you do it once. So that is why cursing should be discourage not only at the kid/teen level but at all levels. Sure it may be funny on some comedy shows, but the moment it becomes an everyday word the more it becomes less funny. I find that the most talented comedians are the ones that don’t have to make foul jokes and cursing. Now I don’t go up to people and tell them not to curse especially when other people are around, but I show by example. When you are about to release an arsenal of obscenities ask yourself: What am I really saying?
