"Lord, Open My Lips": 5 Reasons to Quit Swearing in 2018
"Lord, open my lips and my mouth will proclaim your praises" - Psalm 51:15
Poor use of our tongues is one of the vices that many of us confess repeatedly in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and one of the most subtle sinful habits to pick up. Many of us have become so accustomed to the misuse of Our Lord's name and vulgarities in music, movies, and our day-to-day speech that we have become desensitized to them. Like the frog in the boiling pot, many of us are already in hot water with the words that enter our ears and leave our mouths and don't even realize it. Below are 5 excellent reasons to reconquer our minds and our tongues in 2018.
Our words come from being created in God's Image and Likeness
"Then God said: Let there be light, and there was light." - Genesis 1:3
Have you ever noticed how unique language is to humanity? This uniqueness was not formed through some random adaptation or evolutionary pathway, but rather as a direct result of being made in the Image and Likeness of God. (Genesis 1:26) In fact, the very first thing that God does in the Book of Genesis is to "speak" the world into being. (Genesis 1) The creation story very purposefully uses this imagery to underline the omnipotence of God and his creation of the world ex nihilo The world could not have existed without God first thinking of it and then willing it into being. Because we are made in His Image and Likeness, we also have the ability to imagine our own unique interior worlds filled with dreams, inventions, stories, plays, writings, art, philosophies, and countless other wonderful ideas, and then to bring these ideas into existence through our words and deeds. While it is true we are limited by our Human Nature as creatures - for instance, our inventions often fail and we will never be able to build even an atom from nothing - God has uniquely gifted us with this ability so that ultimately we can experience life with him fully. Words that allow sin to enter our hearts and our world, whether spoken by ourselves or others, can prevent us from developing a fuller relationship with God.
Our words are a testament to how Jesus enters our bodies and hearts
"In the Beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." - John 1:1
In the first line of the Gospel of John, the evangelist reveals fully the means and purpose of our Creation. Where the Old Testament focuses on Who spoke the world into existence, the New Testament focuses on the Word that was spoken. Similar to how we use our own words to convey to others our interior life, God uses His Word to communicate to us the interior life of the Trinity; by name, this is Jesus Christ, the "Word made Flesh". (John 1:14) Just as we must intently listen to the words of a lover when they are speaking to us to receive their love, we must also intently "listen" to the Word in order to fully receive the love of the Blessed Trinity. How do we "listen" to the Word? By receiving the Word into our physical and spiritual interior through receiving the Eucharist! Through the Holy Sacrament God enters our bodily temples and transforms us from the inside out, making us adopted sons and daughters of the Heavenly Father. In many ways our responsible and loving use of our words towards others is a testament to the Word that is in us, and implies the fuller truth of the Eucharist. When we sin by voluntarily listening to or using foul language, we make it more difficult to receive Jesus fully into our hearts. It is the spiritual equivalent of putting our fingers in our ears when someone is speaking to us; we may still be able to receive Him, but it is harder because we have partially closed ourselves off.
Our words allow us to share in God's Divinity
"Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” - Matthew 17:20
Although we are limited by our human nature, through participation in the Sacraments - particularly the Eucharist - our nature is transformed by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This transformation of our nature allows us to share in Christ's Divinity because he first shared in our humanity. Through participation in the Sacraments, Christ enables us to share in his Divine Nature! What a wonderful, generous gift the Word of God is to us! Through this gift of sharing in His Divinity, in very specific instances the words we use are infinitely more effective than they would have been in our fallen state. We see this most clearly in the Sacraments; for every sacrament, there is a form that must be followed by those celebrating the Sacrament in order for the sacrament effective. For example, the Words of Consecration in the Mass are required for the bread and Wine to become the Body and Blood of Christ. The Marriage Vows of the husband and wife change the two persons into one. The words of baptism can be spoken by anyone in an emergency in order to cleanse a person of Original Sin. One way we can express our love and gratitude for these wonderful gifts back to our Lord is by refraining from uttering vulgarities and profanities with the same instrument he has given us to participate in the sacramental life.
Our words can change our Interior Life
"It is not what enters one’s mouth that defiles that person; but what comes out of the mouth is what defiles one.” - Matthew 15:11
Having control over our tongues is a huge step towards growing in the Interior Life. Not only do we use our words to communicate with others, but we also use our words to communicate with God. Our mouths can be used to both praise and blaspheme, to give thanks and the complain, to bless and to curse; how we use our mouths therefore dictates how we are developing our interior lives. The good news is that we can use vocal prayer to "work out" our interior lives and self control! We can help to increasing the Holy Spirit within us through using our mouths daily in prayer, especially through the Liturgy of the Hours and the Rosary. Vocal prayer can also often help us draw into the prayer more easily because it pulls our whole body into the action.
Our words can hurt those we love
"No foul language should come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for needed edification, that it may impart grace to those who hear." - Ephesians 4:29
Finally, we should also avoid using foul language because it can hurt the people that we love. Obviously it is hurtful when we speak out of anger or frustration towards those around us, but many times we also unknowingly hurt others by abusing language. For example, do we encourage a youth to develop poor habits by listening to vulgar music or comedians? Do we tell stories or jokes at work that encourage gossip or the destructive use of words? As Christians, we are called to constantly spread the Gospel; by allowing ourselves to use foul language, we may be preventing the Holy Spirit from working through us to bring our family and friends closer to God.
Footnote: The difference between Swearing, Cursing, and Profane Language
Many people ask if using foul language is a sin because the Second Commandment specifically prohibits using the God's Name in vain. While foul language is still a sin, it definitely does not get the same attention as Cursing, Swearing, and Blaspheming do in the Catechism because it is not as grave as these other sins. The following is a brief summary of some of the different sins associated with words:
Improper Use of God's Name - God has given us his name so that we may interact with him on an intimate basis; He not only is our Creator, but invites us to be his adopted Sons and Daughters. Because of this, any disrespectful use of God's Name is Blasphemous, and is gravely sinful. This includes not only using the Lord's Name improperly, but also any uttering against God through complaining, ill will, or in acts of defiance. It is also Blasphemous to use the name of Christ, Mary, or the Saints in a similar way.
Cursing - Cursing is calling upon God to punish someone or something through His wrath, damnation, etc. When we curse someone or something, we are requesting that God withhold his love and mercy from another human being. When tempted to Curse, we should be reminded of the words of the Our Father to forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
Oaths/Swearing - Oaths are not in and of themselves evil provided that the information that is given under oath is truthful and complete. When we take an Oath, we are invoking the divine truthfulness as to the truthfulness of our own statements. In a similar way, when we take an Oath to complete a particularly action, we are placing a divine guarantee that the action will be completed. We are effectively invoking God as a co-signer on our statements or actions. To fail to complete an Oath or to lie under Oath is perjury, and is a grave sin because we ask God, who is Truth, to be witness to a lie. Because of the heavy nature of such statements, they should be avoided in casual yes. As Christ says, "Let your yes mean yeas and your no mean no." It is also a sin to take an Oath to commit a sin.
Foul Language - While foul language is not technically against the second commandment, it often is used in such a way that it goes against the virtues of charity for one's neighbor. For instance, using the F-word does not violate the second commandment, but it is a vulgar term that is an insult to the matter of the Marriage Sacrament, and is usually not used in a loving and charitable context towards our neighbor or God's creation, and can therefore be an opportunity for sins against the Fifth Commandment. Foul Language can also be a cause of scandal for others, and may lead them away from the faith; in this case, it should also be avoided. It can be pointed out, however, that even the Apostle Paul used more colorful language on occasion in order to underline a particular truth or meaning; therefore, with foul language the context and use of the word in question has a much bigger part in the sinfulness of the word.