The Power Of Language

          Thanks to the wonderful book loan program offered to employees of Barnes and Noble, I am now reading Percy Jackson and the Olympians. It's no Harry Potter, I'm just saying. But it is entertaining. Anyway, I'm on like chapter 6 and I keep reading things along the lines of, "names have power," and "don't throw those names around so casually." This book series is about Greek gods, so I'm assuming what they're ultimately getting at is that some things are so powerful the mere mention of their name brings about certain things (like in Harry Potter, how no one wanted to say Voldemort, so they had substitutions.) Anyway, this got me thinking about the God I serve, the God of Abraham, who's name I throw around like nobody's business. And the name of His Son. Then it got me thinking about language in general. And how powerful it can be. I suddenly became aware of what is most prominent in my day to day conversation. The following are in my daily vernacular--

(asterisks have been provided)
"That makes me want to die"
"I'm about to punch people"
"what the f***"
"sh*t"
"son of a b****"
"ass"
"pissed"
"Oh, God" ** (but these are asterisks to a footnote.)

I'm sorry, but it's true. To be honest, the reason I say most of these things is for comic relief or to get a reaction from someone or something. Cussing is funny to me and can bring rawness and/or relaxation to a conversation, depending on who you're talking to. However...the response I get from most Christians when I say something like what's listed above is generally not positive. And for a long time, I didn't really care. Because I'm a liberal Christian or something like that, and we liberal Christians know we can do and say things conservative Christians think are "bad" and we can defy the norm and show that God's grace surpasses such trivial things, and we don't have to live by "the law".
Well...
No.
How selfish is that?? I mean, really. I guess it's a good thing that I don't feel bound by a rule that forbids me to never cuss or say the wrong thing, but it's not a good thing that I feel like I can freely throw around words that can carry much power and influence in the minds of others. I'm not going to start being militant and condemning about the way I speak, but I am going to start praying for the ability to be more conscious and aware of when I'm using destructive language. And truly, all of the above are destructive. Not one of them has a positive connotation.

So I don't know. Lately, I'm really beginning to understand the value of compassion and kindness, and the way I've been speaking is in no way helping to ingrain that in my mind, even if it is simply to be funny or relatable. I guess that's the point of this.
How you speak reveals what is in your heart and what is not. And how you speak has the power to put things in your heart and take them out.







**I'm aware that I'm not the only Christian who does this. I'm also aware though, that Jews, who serve the same God as I do, don't even dare write or type His name out as they believe it's too holy to have the potential to be erased, so they write or type G-d. I used to think that was really great and beautiful, so I did that for awhile, but then I stopped. Mostly because I don't think I truly believe in my heart my God is that holy and mighty. If I did, I simply wouldn't use his name so much, right? What does God think? Commandment #3 says "Do not take the name of The Lord in vain." But what does that even mean? Ultimately, I think it means don't throw it around and damage the reputation of the Lord with what you say that is either positive or negative about him (i.e. "God damn it", or "God told me such and such about this or that," when you're not 100% sure He really did. One negative, one positive, but both shape a person's view of who God is). This is an entirely different issue for an entirely different post, but feel free to comment and carry this topic wherever you may...I have a lot of digging to do on how God would have us respect his name and carry out the Old Covenant commandments, while living in a New Covenant christianity, but please give your thoughts anyway.