Okay, I'll accept that challenge. James 5:12 says,
"Above all, my brothers, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your 'Yes' be yes, and your 'No,' no, or you will be condemned."
Okay, that's one! Here's another one: Hosea 4:15b says,
"And do not swear, 'As surely as the Lord lives!'"
And here's a real convicting verse; Matthew 5:33-37,
"Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.' But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one."
God cares enough about what we say, that he doesn't want us to swear by the hairs of our head! He's really serious about this swearing thing! Let's go on and read Leviticus 19:12, "Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the LORD."
"There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism."
You may be convinced by now, or you may say, "Well--God means that for the Jew. I'm a Gentile!" And I have a verse for that, too. Romans 2:11
"There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism."
Isn't this interesting? God says here that there will be the same punishment for the Jew if they disobey the very verse that you may say is meant for them! The same punishment is for Gentiles-- "trouble and distress", He calls it. And when God calls something "trouble and distress", He really means "trouble and distress." Yet, when the Jew chooses to follow God and do good like God commands us to (1 Timothy 6:18 "Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share."), he will have "glory, honor, and peace." So will the Gentile--God says that He doesn't show favoritism!
"How do you know that the Bible doesn't mean something else? Surely God didn't really mean that!" I have one more verse for you, then. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says,
"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
So God really does mean what He was saying! And He couldn't be clearer when He says in the Ten Commandments,
"Do not misuse God's name, for of the man that does misuse God's name will not be considered innocent by God."
God's not just talking about using His name here, either, although it is definitely a main part to it--He's talking about using exclamations! Perhaps not, "Oh, my goodness!", or, "Oh, my word!", or phrases like that--you have to decide for yourself on those--but He is referring to "Darn!", "Shoot!", "Fudge!", etc. Each of those words are taken from even worse words, which are taken from even worse words!
Please, I implore you--these words not only are a despicable stench in God's nostrils, and are an ugly black oil stain in your mouth, but they teach innocent children to say even worse things, and they teach people around you what may be and what may not be okay to say! You can almost always tell what kind of person another person is largely because of the language they use! Unbeknown to many Christians, phrases like, "Oh, my gosh!" actually refer to God's holy name! Exclamations like, "Man!" may sound ugly to other strangers, and before you can stop it, there may be a prejudice spreading. So, please, always watch the language you use, whether it's virtually, in the real world, in your mind, and in your emotions.
Love,
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