"Filthy Language"

But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. (Colossians 3:8 NIV)

I came across this verse while working on an assignment for NT a few days ago. That last part has really been stuck in my mind, and tonight it's really been bothering me.

Most people who know me know that I despise "bad words." It really bothers me when people use them. Because of this, many people make a conscious effort to not use them when I'm around. For this I am very grateful.

I know that a sin is a sin and no sin is worse than another. Because I am human, though, I rate sin on a scale anyway, and this goes towards the top of the list. The problem with placing bad words near the top of the list of "which sins are the worst," is that most people put this at the bottom, where I put not cleaning my room when my mom asks me to. Because others place it towards the bottom of their lists, they use bad words freely and don't see anything wrong with it.

So, why is this bothering me now? Why RIGHT now, at 1am when I have a paper to write that's due in 7 hours? I wish I knew. This is a very inconvenient time to have to blog. But I have to. I have to get this out, and a tweet won't translate what I have to say. I don't even know if a rambling blog post can say it, but I'm going to try.

Recently, I was around some people who truly love Jesus. They really do live their lives for Him. They are good people, and I love them dearly. The problem arose when they started throwing out bad words in their conversation. I didn't comment on it at the time.

Tonight, I've been thinking about it, and I've found myself to have a dilemma so burdensome that I simply had to blog about it. I was thinking about this verse, the recent events, and what I should do about it. Then I got to thinking about if I should do anything about it at all. It was with that thought that I came to a humbling realization.

When I am placed in a situation where I see someone doing something that directly contradicts the instructions of the Bible, I am hesitant to correct them. Most of the time, I never get around to mentioning it. Why is that? I know what they are doing is wrong. If the person is someone who claims to follow Jesus, shouldn't I go to them in love and confront them on it? Maybe, but I don't. Here's why.

I know that I sin, too. I fall short of where I should be. Where I'm called to be. I do things that I know contradict the very clear instructions of the Bible. My sin may not be the use of bad words, but it's equally as bad. The worst part is, I KNOW it's bad. I know that I shouldn't be doing these things. I know that there are reasons why God tells us not to do things. God doesn't keep us from things the flesh enjoys to be mean or to keep us from having fun. He does it because they aren't good for us. Sins, more often than not, have earthly consequences. 

The reason why I am so often hesitant to confront people about their sin is because I don't want my sin to come to light. I don't want to be told that I'm being a hypocrite. I don't want to be that person trying to remove a speck of dust from my brother's (or sister's) eye, when there is clearly a huge plank sticking out of my eye.

So, what is the right answer? Honestly, I don't know. One the one hand, there's the aforementioned hypocrite and speck/plank argument. But on the other hand, there's the point that if we all wait until we are perfect to start correcting each other, it will never happen. We will never be perfect. No one will ever reach that place. 

The conclusion that I have come to for now is this: it's time for me to remove that plank. While I'm at it, I can remove the plank from my other eye as well. There are sins in my life that I have recently allowed to creep back in. Things that I know I should keep away. Things that I know affect me. 

Now I leave you with this verse to think about. I don't know the reference. Something in Psalms.

"Now let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer."