I’m a Christian, and I don’t cuss a little
Is it just me, or does the amount of Christians cussing seem to be growing? And it’s not just your casual church attendee, either. From leaders to pastors to people who claim to love God, it seems to be a growing trend. Online, it’s even become a joke, “Yeah, I’m a Christian, but I cuss a little.”
Now, you might be asking why take the time to write on such a topic. Surely, cussing isn’t that big of a deal. Or is it? My concern isn’t as much with the practice of cussing but rather the heart behind it. I’ll unpack that below, as well as some practical ways if you’re struggling with your speech to get it under control. But before we get to all that, you may have some questions I want to answer first…
Is it even wrong for a Christian to cuss?
To answer the question plainly, yes. Scripture teaches us that we will give an account for every word we say (Matthew 12:26). It tells us if we can’t control our mouths our religion is worthless (James 1:26). The Bible also tells us that nothing foul, abusive, or obscene should come out of our mouths (Ephesians 5:4 & Ephesians 4:29). In addition to that we’re told our speech should be gracious and attractive (Colossians 4:6) and that we should get rid of any speech that is filthy (Colossians 3:8). So yep. The Bible has a lot to say about your speech. And nope, cussing shouldn’t be a part of it.
“But I heard the Bible cusses…”
Now, you may have heard some YouTube theologian spout out the idea that the Bible cusses or that Jesus cussed. This simply isn’t true. The Bible, at times, does use crude language but never uses an equivalent cuss word. It may sound edgy and cool to say that the Bible cusses; it’s just not true.
“But I’m just being my authentic self. Should I be fake instead?”
Being your authentic self and “keeping it real” should never be an excuse to sin. Also, God doesn’t tell us to be our authentic selves. He tells us to be like Jesus. So don’t keep it real; grow more like Jesus and learn to live holy.
So why are cussing Christians worth writing about? I’ll give you three reasons:
#1 Culture keeps trying to redefine sin, and its ever-changing list of sins is shrinking.
Whether we mean to or not, many of us justify our sin struggles and condemn the sin struggles of others. All sin is wrong. Cussing, pride, pre-marital sex, the list could go on. What we must come to terms with is that you and I don’t get to decide right and wrong. No matter how small we may view our sin, no matter how many people view it as normal or right, as a Christian, the Bible is our standard of living. So if scripture says my foul, obscene language is sin, then it’s a sin.
#2 Minimizing sin is a good way to end up in more sin.
Whether we view sin as “big” or “small”, all sin is destructive. All sin is an affront to a Holy God who died for our sins. To trivialize sin is to minimize the sacrifice of Jesus. Not only that, every time you justify and minimize a sin, it makes it easier to sin again. Charles Spurgeon said it this way, “If Christ has died for me, I cannot trifle with the evil that killed my best Friend.”
#3 Ignoring conviction leads to a hard heart.
Anytime we sin, the Holy Spirit is actively convicting us of that sin and pointing us back to Jesus. Conviction is a GIFT! Conviction lets us know when we miss God’s standard, and the Holy Spirit leads us to repentance and restoration. The problem comes in, though, when we ignore the conviction of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Our hearts become hardened to the voice of the Lord. When we refuse to repent for our sins, what we once felt bad about doing, we now justify and make excuses for.
Below are some practical steps to break the habit of cussing.
Admit when you sin. The beginning of all freedom from sin begins by admitting and confessing your sin. We all sin. We all fall short. Just admit it. There’s forgiveness for your sin and grace to walk free from it.
Stop making excuses for it. You’ll never find freedom from what you make excuses for. Don’t justify it. Don’t minimize it. Don’t make excuses for it. Full stop. Just own what you did and admit that it’s wrong.
Minimize your exposure to it. Before I was a Christian, I was extremely vulgar, and I knew that to follow Jesus, my mouth needed to change immediately. While it’s hard to break a habit, one of the things I found to be most helpful was to minimize how much I listened to people cussing. So, I changed the music I listened to. I changed a lot of the shows and movies I watched. I changed some of the friends I hung out with. If you’re serious about growth and change, it will require you to limit what you take in and who you’re around.
Pray for self-control. One of the fruits of the Holy Spirit is self-control. Therefore, pray and ask God to give you self-control. You can overcome your sin. You can mature and grow. Keep asking. Keep praying. Keep seeking, and God will help you walk in freedom.
I leave you with the power found in James 3:2 NLT Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way. Winning the battle for self-control in your speech will also lead to winning the battle for self-control in other areas. As you work on your words, you can overcome sin in other areas, too. This battle is bigger than cussing. So, win the battle. You got this!