Her WORDS: Cursing

"With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be."

   "Who in here used to cuss?" I raised my hand & the response was, "Jamilya, you used to cuss?!?". Everyone in the room was so surprised! Yes, I used to curse. Now, I wasn't someone who cursed all the time. I would only curse at school when my parents weren't around. You know that goes lol. I cursed because all of the "cool kids" were doing it, and I wanted to fit in.

   When I surrendered my life to Christ, I knew that there were some things that had to change, and cursing was one of those things. I knew that if Jesus Christ was walking next to me in human form, I would not say those words. Why? Because curse words are filthy and they are used in negative ways. Why would I say those things around a holy God? 

    The Bible tells us that God is omnipresent, meaning that He's everywhere at the same time. He sees, knows, and hears all things. He knows it all. Everything that we think we get away with, He sees and hears it. So many of us are living double lives. We act holy on social media & at church, but behind closed doors we curse out our peers and cause chaos everywhere we go. God sees everything and He knows your heart. 

 "But the things that come out of a person's mouth come from the heart, and these defile them." (Matthew 15:18)

   When people had an encounter with Jesus in the Bible, their lives were changed for the better. I mean no one left the way they came. People were healed, restored and changed because of their encounter with Christ. The only people that weren't changed were the Pharisees and their followers, people that were very religious and traditional. They were so stuck in their ways that they missed their opportunity to experience God's truth.

 "The Lord says: "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught." (Isaiah 29:13)

   A lot of us are stuck in our religious and traditional ways. We believe that if we go to church, sing about the Lord, or dance, then we're doing the right thing. Because we're still stuck, we never open our hearts to have a true encounter with the Lord. Religion has consumed our hearts so much that we believe that having a relationship with God is defined by listening to a sermon on Sunday & serving in church. The next 6 days of the week, we feed our spirits garbage & never seek God for ourselves. That's why we're so comfortable cursing and doing other things that are contrary to God's word. 

"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (Romans 12:2)

   As Christians, we're supposed to be lights in the world; images of Christ in this evil world. We are supposed to stand out, but we blend in. The world can't tell that you're a true follower of Christ because your language resembles theirs! Yes, no one is perfect, but God is. If we claim to be His children and claim to be filled with the Holy Spirit, then we should be transformed daily as we follow Him.

   I know that so many of us have a habit of cursing. Some of you desire to break this bad habit because you desire to be closer to Christ. Good news, God is able & willing to help you get rid of it. It is a process, but His grace will keep you! Each day, pray & study God's word. Feed your spirit with things of God. The more you eat, the more you'll be like Him. Each day, I ask God to create in me a clean heart (Psalm 51:10). I know that if my heart is pure, then my words will be pure. I challenge you to pray the same thing & watch God move.

   Always remember that your words are powerful. Always remember that God has called you to be peculiar. He's called you to stand out & to be an example of Him on this earth. Jesus didn't walk around using profanity, so why are we doing it?