There are many verses in the Bible telling us that we should honor God's name. Exodus 20:7 & Deuteronomy 5:11 are two familiar examples. In most translations, these verses are identical in both books.
"Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord, thy God, in vain...." (KJV)
"You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God...." (NIV)
I especially like the way the MSG & VOICE translations render these verses.
"No using the name of God, your God, in curses or silly banter...." (MSG)
"You are to not use My name lightly or flippantly or as a curse...." (VOICE)
My spirit, in fact my entire being cringes when I hear someone doing this. I'm sure we have all heard people saying things like ...
"Oh my God, look at that cute outfit!"
"Will you go clean up your room, for Christ's sake?"
"What in God's name are you doing?"
"For the love of God, get in here!"
I remember watching The Weather Channel one day while they were showing a home video someone took of a funnel cloud heading toward their neighborhood. Someone ... either the person filming the video or a person nearby ... kept saying over & over again, "Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!" I don't think I can adequately explain how grieved I was at this.
Did you know that there are words that people use in place of God's name but they are still the same? I first was made aware of this when I was in 7th grade. I attended a catholic grade school (grades 1-8) & one day I was standing with some friends & one of us said something like "Geez, will you look at that!" One of the nuns at the school happened to hear this as she was passing by & she really laid into us for using Jesus' name like that. It never occurred to my friends & I that "geez" was just a shortened form of Jesus ... a "polite" way to dishonor God's name. At the time we all thought that nun was crazy, but of course with age comes wisdom (hopefully). Geez, gee, gosh, golly, egad, "oh my goodness," Jiminy Crickets, & similar words & expressions are all "polite substitutes" for God's name.
If you love God, if He is important in your life, if you want to honor Him at all times, listen to the words you say & to take a good look at the things you write. If you discover that you are dishonoring God by using His name "lightly or flippantly or as a curse," pray for His help to stop. In Psalm 141, the psalmist asks God to "set a guard over my mouth." I ask God to do this for me every day. I encourage you to ask Him to do this for you as well : )
11 comments:
Excellent! When I was homeschooling, and we were sitting down to lunch, one of the kids said something that made me cringe, so I made a lesson of it. Got the dictionary out, and found out it was a (derogatory) derivation of the name of God. One word led to another, and a great lesson was learned. I also cringe when people do OMG. MY family knows better! At least around ME! But I like to think it is all the time... Hugs!
OMGosh ... does that mean when I say "Dad Gum" it is also sacrilegious? I never thought it to be.
Love your blog.
Peace to ALL,
Barb
Interesting post, Shirlee.
No OMGs here. We have always insisted on not taking the Lord's name in vain. I must say you got me thinking on Jiminey Crickets. I don't use that, but I never related it to God. It must be the J. C. ?
Thought provoking post as always. I hadn't realised some of those were shortened versions of The Lord's name. I think people are too quick to exaggerate these days and use these words for added emphasis.
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be always pleasing in your sight, O Lord my rock and my redeemer. One of my favourite Bible verses and a useful morning prayer.
Very interesting post my dear :)
Amen, Amen, and Amen!! My sentiments exactly!!
A big "Amen" from me too! This is one of my pet peeves and it seems that nobody really gets what the big deal is. Sadly it just slips into people's vocab without a thought to the One they are referencing.
Hi Shirlee, thanks for reminding us, I think many people don't realize what they are saying, so sad. hugs, Lecia
Very thought provoking. I had this conversation many times as my girls were growing up. I got a beating when I was about 5 years old for saying "gee whiz". I didn't understand the beating, but I sure never said that again!
I am like you I donot like dates or names on stitching I do keep a diary so if I need to find out when I stitched it I just look it up.
If people say ong I just hate it, how disrespectful to Our Lord.
I am sick of the cussing and use of bad language on t.v. and radio.
I am of the age and time people had respect and God, boy oh boy things have changed.
Blessings
Catherine
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