Clean Language - Proverbs 4:24

Keep your mouth free of perversity;
keep corrupt talk far from your lips.(Proverbs 4:24)

Dear Father,

There is such a temptation to fit in with everyone else and part of that temptation is to use speech that is unholy. Once those words have crossed our lips, it is easier to do it a second time and then to fall into a pattern. Though we are amazingly able to compartmentalize our lives such that we avoid unholy speech in holy settings, using that speech completely destroys our witness in the world. I have always been amazed at how people who cuss and swear are offended when they hear "church people" use that kind of language. We are immediately (and rightfully) branded as hypocrites. I pray that these young ones come to understand that truth early in their lives. That they come to desire to have a strong and positive influence on those around them and come to understand that unholy speech will negate that influence. I pray that they also come to understand that unholy language includes not only swearing, but also includes gossip and derogatory speech toward or about other people. Give them an acute awareness of the effect their language has on the impact of their lives.

Amen