“Your own soul is nourished when you are kind, but you destroy yourself when you are cruel.” (Proverbs 11:17)
Words are so important. A word can excite or depress. A word can make us glad or sad or mad. Words can inspire and lift our spirits or defeat and deflate our souls. Words can motivate and encourage, or they can crush and kill. Words can convince us to stand tall for what is right, or they can destroy hope and blast reputations. Words can offer a beautiful prayer and preach a powerful sermon, or they can incite a riot or tell a dirty joke.
The words we choose -- and the way we use them -- communicate more about us and our faith than we can possibly imagine. Profane words, bigoted words, hateful words, cruel words do not promote the cause of Christ or represent the spirit of Christ. They never have and never will. We dupe ourselves by calling our dirty talk mature, adult, realistic. Come on, now! What could be more immature, childish, and unrealistic? If you want to be a good witness for Jesus Christ today, clean up your act and clean up your speech. Speak the words of faith, hope, and love in a tone of compassion, kindness, and respect.
-- James W. Moore in “When You're a Christian, the Whole World is from Missouri”
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