Our Words Matter

Today I read Acts 11, where Peter returns to Jerusalem after preaching to Cornelius and baptizing his family. I love this part because his fellow Apostles are upset with him and he relays the vision he had to them and ends it with a statement that asks who is he to thwart the will of God? I love that question and how it really puts in perspective. The Apostles can be upset with Peter all they want, but truthfully he did the will of God and did what was asked of him. Now, his brethren were also men of the Spirit and when they heard this, glorified God and acknowledged what Peter had done was right.

The rest of the chapter is about the saints in Antioch and how the brethren sent Barnabas and Saul unto them. It is in Antioch that the saints are called Christians for the first time. I was thinking about it today as I read the chapter and why it is important that the Saints are called Christians or not. But almost as soon as I thought that, I was reminded of 3 Nephi where the disciples ask Jesus in what name they should call the church and Jesus reminds them that if it is His church, it must be called in His name. Therefore, if they are Christ's people, then they must be called in His name. We have talked before this about the importance of words and how words can make a difference. It seems so in-congruent because on the one hand, we know that unkind words don't hurt us and that we can rise past them and we can still serve God no matter what is said to us. But on the other hand, we know that words, the right words can be infinitely important. For example, all Priesthood ordinances must have the right verbiage in order to be valid. Moses found this out when trying to cast out Satan from his presence. It took him 3 tries before he got it right and Satan was compelled to leave his presence.

How we say things are just as important as what we say. We are taught this principle in Alma teaches the people in the city of Ammonihah that our words will condemn us. Jesus Himself taught us this principle in the Sermon on the Mount when He says that any who call their brother Raca, or a derogatory name, is in danger of the counsel. What we say is important and we will have to have an accounting of everything we have said in this life. I remember once having a discussion about swear words and were they really bad words and incorrect to say, or was it just the social connotation that makes them bad. For example, if you say a swear word in front of a person who does not speak English, the person will not react at all and it means nothing to them. So if that is the case does it still make it wrong? Yes, it does. For one thing, God is offended by them. If you ever doubt that, ask any missionary how they feel immediately before and after they hear a swear word. The Spirit leaves, immediately. I remember when I had just come off of my mission that I saw a preview for a movie on TV that looked quite funny. The premise seemed enjoyable and I went and saw it with my Mom and Dad. I can still to this day remember how horrible it was and how appalled I was at all the swearing and how awful I felt as we left the movie theater that night. Some might argue that those words are only bad because of the social taboo associated with them. However, I can say without hesitation that Heavenly Father is offended by them, and I would daresay He is offended by all swear words in all languages.

It is very hard sometimes to find quality entertainment in this day and age. I have learned that if something is popular with the masses, it will almost always offend God. I am very leery of new TV shows or movies that are extremely popular as a whole because I have found that they almost always contain nudity, copious amounts of swearing or lots of violence. It is rare that the world likes and approves of something pure and in keeping with the Spirit. Even books are getting outrageous these days. Unless one reads a science fiction/fantasy novel, one is almost always inundated with swear words and unwholesome passages. Even now in the aforementioned sci-fi genre swearing is becoming ever more popular. When did it become the popular thing to do to swear? I always viewed it as a weakness, that the person did not have a large vocabulary and so would fall back on such things. It is sad to me that so many people have to resort to swearing to get their point across. What's even more sad is that more and more people are not being offended by swearing. This is obvious as more and more shows include it and as the laws of cable have changed over the years. I remember as a child you would not hear any swear words at all on TV. Now you can hear them all except what are commonly thought of as the worst 2. And even those every couple of years or so, the media tries to push the envelope to see how far and how much they can get away with.

It is up to us who declare ourselves Christians to set ourselves apart from all of this. It should be so obvious that you don't swear that when your friends do it around you, they should apologize by habit. At my work I don't even have to say anything anymore, people have learned that I don't talk like that nor do I appreciate it when people talk like that around me and so the apologize to me when the say such things in my presence. I did not request it, they do it out of respect for me. If your co-workers and friends don't know that you dislike swearing, you need to take a look at your speech and find out why. We should always make sure our words and our speech are pleasing to God. We will be very uncomfortable in His presence if our speech is laced with profanity, I guarantee! Until tomorrow.