Well, do you think swearing is a sin? My friend asked me this question, but the more I thought about it, the more I was baffled. I am pretty sure God has said in the Bible that swearing is a sin, but I think it might not be. I mean, WE, us humans invented it, right? So wouldn't WE humans have to decide that? And many people use swearing in their daily lives, and I mean VERY HIGH percent of people use swearing in their daily lives. So what do you think? Is swearing a sin? I've though about it for a while, and I think swearing is not a sin. It's what we make it out to be, WE created it.

Tell me what you think, and please don't be rude or flame.

zelda2 : Good question. I'm going to do my best to answer it!

Ephesians 4:26 states: "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto others."

James 3:9-12 states: "9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God;10 from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way.11 Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water?12 Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh."

These are just two examples of what God says about our mouths, out of which our words come. Our words are meant to edify (building up, ministering grace) others and glorify God, and by swearing, we are doing what James 3:9 says what ought not to happen. We can't both bless God and curse man, because man is made in God's image. So I think it's clear that swearing is definitely not a good thing.

But what I think is worse is what's behind the swearing. If you are swearing because you are told not to, you're rebellious. If you are swearing because others are doing it, you're man-pleasing. If you are angry and you are swearing, you are violating Ephesians 4:26. I definitely caution against swearing, particularly because I used to have one of the foulest mouths known to man, and I know that you can hurt others and make yourself look absolutely foolish by doing so.

I want to point out something, though. I think the question "Is 'X' a sin?" needs to be revised. The question needs to be, "Is 'X' glorifying God?" By focusing more on God's glory than the sin, you are setting yourself up for massive change. Even if you have a bad habit of swearing now, all focusing the sin of swearing will do is make you feel like crap, which I think leads to a cycle of more sin. God convicts our hearts, but I don't think He tries to make us feel guilty. Jesus already paid for our guilt, so what use is it harping on that?

Anyways, that's what I got. I could tell you countless stories of how my cursing has caused problems with friends and family, but I'll spare you the details. I can say that, unless there's an extreme case of me slipping up, I don't curse anymore. The grace of God really delivered me from that! Hope I helped.

Yes of course swearing is a flame it mentions it in the bible many times so of course it would be considered as a sin for the text says no one shall swear many times.

I've written an article about this at my college's newspaper and I've posted it on this thread here: https://www.vizzed.com/boards/thread.php?id=53083

While I do consider swearing a sin but now day's its endorsed and is apart of day to day life. I do recognize it is a sin but ultimately because its a sin doesn't mean people will stop doing it. Most on the time the younger generation seems to swear a lot more than what they should well actually they shouldn't swear at all, now I'm not making up excuse for them swearing but when you sit down and think about there is a lot of entertainment that encourages/appears to endorse swearing as sentence enhancers to make the one swearing sound cool and or like they are grown.

It's interesting to see that this thread is marked as a "Debate".  As a Christian, we shouldn't consider the subject as "debatable", because yes, it is a sin.  pray75 covered the details

I asked a question I'd love to have y'alls input on. It's in the thread play4fun linked. Would anyone be interested in answering it?

mrfe :  Without getting too technical about it and using the examples that you have given, "crap" (sorry for the graphic description) as we all know, is a slang word for feces.  When I was much younger, we were not allowed to use that word, because it was basically considered as a replacement for the word s**t (sorry).  The same with "dang" - it's a euphemism for the word "damn", which was also taboo a few years ago on TV.  Society have just became desensitized to so many things.  These are just simple examples.  God can see our thought life and even if you don't say it out loud, but still think it, I think God would go (saying this with utmost respect) *facepalm*

Indeed, that's what I am saying. Society has made these words unacceptable, NOT THE BIBLE! The bible says to not say these words, but it doesn't list the growing list of curses.

The sinful thing is the negative annotation to the word and also the manner that it is expressed,
 not the word itself.
A word is just a word, it's usually the negative tone that a person using a swear word expresses that makes it so foul/taboo.
But for instance, if I or anyone else said "I'm so f**king happy" with a positive tone; I don't believe that to be a sin.

Hidden Phantom : So if I am understanding what you are saying correctly, you are saying that the Bible talks about not to speak corrupt communication, obscene talk, filthiness, foolish, or crude joking, but society determines what words are considered in those categories?

zelda2 : I don't think the reasoning that "humans invent something, so it can't be a sin" is logically true, for we humans created a lot of things that are considered sinful. I also don't think it's right to say that because a lot of people are doing it, that it's not a sin. Some things might not be specific mentioned in the Bible (due to time difference or cultural difference), but the principles that are taken from the Bible can let us know what is considered sin or not. In this case, I find it to be more clear that swearing is a sin. People can argue about what words are considered cussing, but the basic concept or idea of swearing is a sin.

A more general principle would be like what pray75 said. Like the verse in Philippians: "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." (Philippians 4:8) Anything that you do that is not glorifying to God is sin.

mrfe : Words can change their meaning due to culture, time, or other reasons. So some words that may have a crude meaning back in the day might change their meaning today, so you might be using it differently today (though I can't really think of an example of one. I can only think of examples going the opposite direction) I concur with what SoL@R said. God knows what you are thinking and it's been made clear what type of speech should not be said in the Bible.

samyy : but what about the meaning of the word itself? From your example, the meaning of the swear is still there, no matter how well or how negative you use it. That is why there is a verse that also mentions that “Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place…”. So I would also apply this idea to sex jokes.

Here's also something that you would want to ponder. When you ask the question "is swearing a sin?", are you using this question to justify yourself to swear or are you genuinely trying to figure it out if swearing is a sin? If there is something that you are iffy on whether something is sin or not, it's best that you not do it.

Also, when you ask if something is a sin or not, how bout asking if that something is good? Sin is defined as what is against God, not what is against society.

play4fun : I'm generally trying to figure it out for myself, I don't swear.

And what I meant by "humans invent something, so it can't be a sin" is we made it, so we make what it means, so humans could choose if it's a sin or not. I mean, the word dictionary for example. That could easily mean Hippopotamous if we made it that way. So couldn't we choose whether they are sinful words?

play4fun : Yes, for the MOST part.  I'm talking about more recent words in question.

I am greatly in love with some of the responses here.  pray75's answer was right in cue with play4fun's article that I read several months ago.  It was a beautiful and intelligent answer, and I'm not really sure I could add to it.

I also especially liked SoL@R's response.  I do think this belongs in the debate section since it's something other people might want to 'debate', or since there are people uncertain on the issue.  Nonetheless, I agree that it shouldn't be 'debatable' to those who follow Christ.

Briefly, because I haven't seen much on this.... I definitely think curse words are sinful used in the wrong way.... -however-, I believe if they are used as they were truly meant to be, it might or might not be sinful.  (For example, using the word that means donkey, when actually talking about a donkey.)  See, the bible tells us that we should always avoid the appearance of evil or sinfulness as well.  For example, I should avoid buying tons of white wine if it will look like I'm buying it to get drunk.  I might be buying it to cook with (the 'alcohol' is cooked out of the wine when used for cooking), but if there's a strong possibility people will think I'm getting drunk off of it, I should do everything in my power to avoid it.

I believe the same is with those words.  Much of society views them as cursing, so even if you were to use them in the appropriate way, we should avoid it.  Doing so is pretty easy to do.... since nearly every word in the English language has at LEAST one synonym.

An example of when using a word might be sinful or might not be?  Well, let's take the word I mentioned above.  If I use that word in bible study (since it's in the KJV many times, referring to the actual animal), the people I am studying with KNOW that I'm using it in the appropriate manner, and they will know that my intent is not sinful.  I can feel pretty safe in them not doubting my intent or meaning.  However, if I were to talk about a donkey using that word.... say... in my classroom?  Even though I may be using the word in the right way, 30 hormonal teenagers are going to cover their mouth and gasp.  They'll make jokes about it and talk to other kids or adults about it.  It wouldn't be appropriate, and I will have given my students the idea that I curse.  In that case, I believe, it would be a sin.

Finally,
mrfe :
I was raised that the less 'severe' synonym of 'poop' (the one starting with a c) was a curse word.  My parents weren't religious, but we were NOT allowed to say that word.  However, words like the other example pray75 gave (the euphanism), I was never taught to be wrong.  When I was married to my husband, I had my first encounter with people grimacing when I used that word.  Jason quickly told me that their family considered it, and all other words like it, to be a curse word.  That shocked me and I honestly thought it was a bit silly.  I sort of laughed at the idea, but they explained it to me like SoL@r did.  Out of respect for my husband, I try very hard not to use that euphanism.  I grew up using it all the time, but I manage it to avoid it pretty well now.  I'd say it's hard for me to view it as a curse word on a personal and secular level, but I'd agree with my in-law's opinion, and SoL@R's.

Vittu ja Perkele, I suppose it is. But people sin.

I'm not christian and i sure don't think that swearing is a sin. Sh*t is poop, D*mn is darn and so on. Not so bad just different words for everyday things, not so bad. Oh ya and B*tch is just a dog so ya not so terrible. 

I'm not religious in any way, but whether or not you are, I do believe that swearing is still bad. Most people that swear a lot, tend to not actually know what the words true meanings are. So yes, I do believe swearing is a sin. If there is a god, then I'm sure he wouldn't want humanity to be swearing and using vulgar language.

I think what it really comes down to is intention. To say that certain words are objectively wrong or sinful is puritanical and a misrepresentation of the nature of language. That is, words do not inherently have any power in themselves. If one intends a certain word to be harmful, then it is probably a sin. It is never clear, though, what words actually might offend someone. Since the nature of every communication act is different based on the relationship between speaker and hearer, it is far too complicated to simply reduce language to sinful/not sinful. Peace.